Don't Give The TSA An Easy Time Of Violating Your Rights
It shouldn't be emotionally easy, earning a living by violating people's rights.

On March 31st, when I came through the metal detector and realized that everyone in the TSA line to my United flight was getting searched, I got teary. I was teary at the prospect of being touched by a government worker -- entirely without probable cause. I was very upset, both because of the physical violation and because I love our now too-often-crumpled-up Constitution and Bill of Rights.

I can hold back the tears...hang tough...but as I was made to "assume the position" on a rubber mat like a common criminal, I thought fast. I decided that these TSA lackeys who serve the government in violating our rights just don't deserve my quiet compliance. And no, I won't go through the scanner (do you trust the government that they're safe?) and allow a government employee to see me naked in the course of normal and totally ordinary business travel: flying from Los Angeles to Binghamton, New York, to attend an evolutionary psychology conference for my work.

Basically, I felt it important to make a spectacle of what they are doing to us, to make it uncomfortable for them to violate us and our rights, so I let the tears come. In fact, I sobbed my guts out. Loudly. Very loudly. The entire time the woman was searching me.

Nearing the end of this violation, I sobbed even louder as the woman, FOUR TIMES, stuck the side of her gloved hand INTO my vagina, through my pants. Between my labia. She really got up there. Four times. Back right and left, and front right and left. In my vagina. Between my labia. I was shocked -- utterly unprepared for how she got the side of her hand up there. It was government-sanctioned sexual assault.

Upon leaving, still sobbing, I yelled to the woman, "YOU RAPED ME." And I took her name to see if I could file sexual assault charges on my return. This woman, and all of those who support this system deserve no less than this sort of unpleasant experience, and from all of us.

...

I've been waiting on posting this, both because I've been utterly swamped with work, and because I was waiting for a reply from a lawyer about the possibility of filing sexual assault charges. It turns out that filing charges is probably a no-go. Harvey Silverglate, lawyer and co-founder of the wonderful campus free speech defenders, FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), emailed me this:

I think it is extremely unlikely that these pat-downs would be deemed a sexual assault, or any assault for that matter. In the first place, the person doing the pat-down would be acting according to regulations and instructions, hence on good faith ... because of the purported justification ("National security", airline safety).

The only issue, it seems to me, is whether there is a decent security reason to justify such pat-downs, or whether it is an unconstitutional search and seizure, or invasion of privacy/intrusion, because not justified for safety reasons. As with most constitutional rights, including this Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure, or Fifth Amendment due process, a court would weigh the state's justification (i.e., security gains) versus the citizen's losses (privacy, dignity).

...To win a battle for liberty like this, people must not get accustomed to these indignities, but must complain about them every single time ... and in every forum possible.

I'll echo Harvey in asking that you all do as I did (and that you spread the word to do as I did): Don't make it easy for the government, through these TSA lackeys, to be violating us -- sexually, and in respect to our right to not be searched without probable cause.

And no -- the fact that some people are terrorists is NOT probable cause. The fact that you are wearing underwire is NOT probable cause. And no -- the fact that you, in 2011, are unwilling to hitchhike thousands of miles instead of taking a plane is NOT probable cause.

The rights of vast number of Americans are being violated daily and it is absolutely essential that we all stand up and defend our rights -- and as loudly and vociferously as possible.

Are you in? Spread the word.

UPDATE: I forgot to post the TSA woman's name when I wrote this last night. I think it might have been Thedala Magee. Or Magee Thedala. I was really upset, and neither name sounds like a typical American first name or last name, so I can't remember if I wrote it down in the right order.

Please, everybody, ask for the name of the person who violated you, and when you post about it, use their name. It's got to become very uncomfortable to be one of those who earns a living, as said at Nuremberg, by "just following orders."

Oh, and just in case you're one of those who has gotten used to giving up your rights with ease, ANY touching by a government official without probable cause counts as being violated.

Comments

I sent this link to a couple of my American friends. Here's what one had to say:

Yes, travel has become traumatic because of this whole security thing, and I hate it and am angry.

Did you know that the company that manufactures these full body-scanning machines is owned by Chertoff, the former head of Homeland Security in the U.S.? He is making a fortune off these dangerous machines and preying upon the fears of people in doing it. The Israelis have the tightest airport security in the world but do it unobtrusively and effectively. Oh, don't get me started on this...

Kendra
at April 26, 2011 12:35 AM

Don't forget to tell Patrick Smith about this, or any other experience, at patricksmith@askthepilot.com. I wonder how long it is until the Feds threaten his job.

But nothing will happen until Americans simply refuse to get on an airplane.

I won't fly, period. I'd be in jail if an agent made my wife cry.

Radwaste
at April 26, 2011 2:12 AM

I'm horrified at what happened to you!!!

They were searching folks even though they didn't set off the metal detector???

what airport was this, and what is the name of this TSA.... "person"

julie
at April 26, 2011 2:36 AM

"the person doing the pat-down would be acting according to regulations and instructions, "

I would love to see this challenged.

We do NOT know what the SOP is. We do not know what, if any, limits there are to what they can do.

We do not know if they are doing their job or committing crimes under cover of their authority.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 3:59 AM

I wonder if (hope) the bad publicity TSA is getting about their searches of children is having an effect. I left San Diego with my son, age 13, Saturday and everybody in the security line was being made to assume the position in the backscatter scanner and I was not happy about it. When it was my son's turn the TSA agent suddenly opened the path to the regular medical detector and waved my son through it, then indicated me to follow him. For whatever reason we didn't have to get in the backscatter or be patted down even though I had just observed several little old ladies being made to do it. The notion that any of this makes us safe is a farce.

For what it's worth, when I mentioned it to my father, a radiologist, he said the radiation from the backscatter is minimal and not harmful.

Lizzie
at April 26, 2011 4:03 AM

Since you are a writer who can probably work remotely, you may want to consider moving out of the United States and becoming an expat.

Various earlier waves of U.S. expats, including the over-hyped Americans in Paris in the '20s, moved because they felt, for various reasons, that the U.S. was no longer their country and that they would be more free to live and work in a different culture.

The U.S. may have reached that point for people who believe that they do not give up their rights when they choose to travel. The vast majority of Americans do not care, because they only fly once every 18 months, and, on those packed holiday weekends, the TSA suspends its more onerous procedures to avoid wide-spread rebellion.

When I travel around China, I am treated with more dignity and respect than when I travel around the USA -- and China is a police state.

I'm sorry you had to go through that, and making the TSA clerks feel bad about staying in their obscene jobs is the right move, but you may want to consider moving.

Your blog would be just as interesting if you write it from a patio on Bali.

Amy, your lawyer was wrong in that we have no idea if these people committing assaults such as you suffered are doing the search correctly or not. As "traveler" wrote, the TSA will not allow the search protocol to be released so that we can know.

I say go ahead and file that sexual assault complaint. You don't need a lawyer to do it.

Susie
at April 26, 2011 4:25 AM

Your lawyer was wrong. According to the head of the TSA in a CNN interview genitals should not be touched, breasts should not be touched and when inside waistband bare skin should not be touched. The problem is the police may not take your complaint because they believe the TSA has immunity to do whatever they want. The DHS has an inspector general office, you could complain there.

A Land
at April 26, 2011 5:40 AM

Don't bother complaining to the IG. The last one that seriously investigated something got branded "insane" and fired in violation of the law.

If everyone stopped flying and destroyed the airline industry, the DHS would have no reason to exist.

brian
at April 26, 2011 5:53 AM

HOw god awful, Amy. Good for you, and I think I would have been yelling "Get your hands out of my vagina!!!" at the top of my lungs, too. Or, I would have been assaulting her. You have aright to defend your person-you weren't under arrest.

momof4
at April 26, 2011 5:58 AM

I know I'm not traveling in the US in the near future. God, I hate flying here, mostly because Australian airports are too stubborn to have smoking rooms after the security check, or bars before them. So I end up going through a few times after going out for a smoke. Fortunately, our security procedures are nothing like this.

Ltw
at April 26, 2011 6:08 AM

For me, Paul, the answer is not bailing on this country, but fighting to maintain our Constitutional rights. By the way, we still have the most rights of any citizen anywhere in the globe, and there's still no better country to be a citizen of. But, we're going down a very dangerous path, and people need to wake up and stop acting like sheeple.

I read a lot of fiction as a child, and I remember thinking how great it was that, unlike in the USSR, nobody could demand "our papers." That's sure gone by the wayside -- in the name of safety. Meanwhile, a TSA tester got a gun through (in Florida, I think) five times.

If anyone wants to send this to lawyers who might weigh in on the sexual assault angle, and any other angles, please do. Also, I hope people will either forward this post, link to it, or just tell people to not just go quietly when they are violated by the TSA. And again, any search without probable cause is a violation, and the notion that you could just stay home (from what is normal business travel) or drive or hitchhike is absurd.

Oh wow. This is insane. What concerns me most is that, apparently, there are NO standards for what the proper groping procedures are. Everyone I've spoken with has had a different experience. So far, yours is the worst I've heard, and I am so sorry. That's really awful.

I just got my first groping in Milwaukee a few weeks ago when I opted out of the machine. And mine was surprisingly NOT thorough at all. I think my TSA person was cutting corners -- not that I'm complaining -- but she really seemed to be phoning it in. If this is *supposedly* about security, EVERYONE would be subject to the same "enhanced pat-down" procedure, which is definitely NOT the case.

sofar
at April 26, 2011 6:57 AM

You do realize you will be singled out for extra scrutiny because you dared to complain?

Keep protesting. Write to your Congresscritters. It's our country and our government and we'll just have to find new representatives until we get treated right.

As soon as we toss enough of the idiots, the rest will learn.

MarkD
at April 26, 2011 6:58 AM

Thank you so much for sharing this. The TSA has gone TOO FAR and it is up to We The People to stop them. They are now setting up at train stations and rest areas along the highways with their VIPR teams. "Well don't fly then" is not an option.
Here's my experience and rant. http://dangerousleanings.blogspot.com/2010/11/things-i-hate-vol-5-travel-edition.html
Granted, this was before the new "enhanced pat downs" started, and before I knew how the scanners worked. I will not be making it easy for them when next I travel.
I want our 4th amendment rights restored.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2074902">comment from MarkD

You do realize you will be singled out for extra scrutiny because you dared to complain?

Unless the TSA is reading my blog, they don't know who I am. Thedala Magee merely stuck her hand into my vagina four times. This was anonymous sexual violation. She didn't ask me my name before or after she did it.

And I obviously don't go quietly -- during or afterward. It would seem unwise to fuck with me, because it will just generate more negative attention for the TSA. Also, if everybody, or most people, start refusing to go quietly when their rights are violated, it's going to be hard to "single" people out.

By the way, two of the people running for Congressperson (for Jane Harman's seat -- she bailed, and never mind what it'll cost us to have another election) have broken the law while running their election. Janice Hahn, who strikes me as having all the intelligence of a ficus tree (as I wrote yesterday), made illegal robocalls. (Sans the legally mandated live person on the phone first.) A former CAA agent named Dan Adler running for the seat brought a double-decker bus to my neighborhood -- 20 feet from houses -- and at midnight, violated LA noise laws (one of the numbers around 115.02 of the LA Municipal Code) by having a half hour of amplified sound, with rap music and somebody shouting over a microphone, "Dan Adler 2011." It is unacceptable for people to represent us as lawmakers if they break the law. (I'm voting for Deborah Bowen for that seat, who first came to my attention when she fought against telemarketers invading our homes -- stealing our time and the use of phone lines we pay for to make their marketing costs cheaper.)

I've been patted down before and not had that kind of genital inspection. I did have my breasts felt up early on -- before scanner use was widespread -- at McCarren airport in Vegas. I still feel upset and sexually violated. And, as I've said, if some friend of mine grabbed my ass to be funny, I'd laugh and tell them to keep their paws to themself. The government has no right to have its employees touch us this way if we are not reasonably suspected of committing a crime: It's not supposed to be "guilty until sexually assaulted and presumed able to travel."

Slight tangent, Amy...as I understand it (I'm in the telecomm industry) the FCC rules against robocalls carved out a very wide exception for politicians campaigning. Unless you're talking about local or state laws? (Whether legal or illegal, it's rude. I unhook my home phone at election time.)

Can someone point me to where jurisprudence changed? I had always been told that you could not "sign your rights away", so therefore those contracts where you agree to waive right to trial by jury are null and void.

How can buying an airplane ticket or traveling on the highway possibly involve a routine forfeiture of rights? Where's the probable cause?

brian
at April 26, 2011 7:42 AM

brian, they hide behind an earlier judicial ruling that allows an "administrative search limited to" specific things, in this case "terrorist weapons". The fact that they then also summon law enforcement if they find large amounts of cash or drug paraphenalia or breast milk (google it.) might give we the people a justiciable issue, here.

Amy you may have run into a pervert, your sobbing might have been arousing her.

Realistically we're not going to see any improvement on this situation until there is no longer a Democrat in the White House. Not because the Republicans are any better, but because the civil rights community in the US is almost entirely on the Left. They're not going to pursue this matter because it will embarrass Obama and the Democrats.

You see the same cycle playing out with opposition to the wars, human rights policies, due process etc.. Everything wrong is right again when we have a Democratic president.

pele
at April 26, 2011 7:55 AM

Wow, Amy, I don't know how you did it. I know I would have been crying too, but the minute she touched my genitals, I would have been moving away from her. I don't think I could have stood still for it. They would have had to hold me down in order to touch me there.. and I think that might be assault?

I've passed out after visiting the lady doctor, and have an enormous phobia about visiting the gyno. I get so worked up that I get dizzy and sob, and the doctor is supposed to be down there. Of course I can rationalize going through it for my health.. but having a stranger trying to touch me like that. Awful.

I've always been afraid of flying, before all of this crap happened, and this just solidifies my resolve against it. I don't really travel, so I may not have to deal with it if it becomes a reality at bus/train stations, but I certainly won't go quietly if I ever do happen to encounter it.

Angie
at April 26, 2011 7:56 AM

What a horrible experience. I'm so sorry you were subjected to this. Thank you for posting it. I fully agree with you that those who object to this sort of invasive, intrusive – and unhelpful – search need to oppose it, loudly and publicly, and to make public the names of the people who do it.

Christopher
at April 26, 2011 8:11 AM

You're a lot nicer than I am. Hand goes to crotch, wrist gets to break. Unless she's hot...then I'm asking for her number. (I've had worse dates than when a cute girl went straight for my crotch.

If they'd just replace all these people with ones that are great to look at, and make it enjoyable, it'd be a treat rather than a trial.

Robert
at April 26, 2011 8:18 AM

It just amazes me that TSA still exists...this is a plain violation of our civil rights, yet because they made an attractive offer to our government, they went right ahead and gave them this contract.

Past time for the government to admit they screwed up and cut their losses, and kick TSA to the curb.

Patrick
at April 26, 2011 8:20 AM

Seems like in about another 2 to 3 decades, we
may be having to salute the Swastika in AmeriKKKa, the way things are going. I never thought I'd live to see the day when this $%#@!
would be happening in the "Arsenal of Democracy"
(more like "Arsenal of Hypocracy"). I wish I
hadn't.

Bob
at April 26, 2011 8:22 AM

How do we know what Amy posts is true?

Here are the only "facts" I can glean: 31March UAL flight from LA to Binghamton, NY.

She leaves out: time, flight number, airport, and "forgets" the TSA's name.

She is a professional writer. Is it just possible this little tale of TSA terror is a fabrication?

Ralph
at April 26, 2011 8:37 AM

Amy, this has happened to me twice now. As a victim of childhood abuse, it was an entire re-traumatization. I explained this to the TSA on both occasions, who insisted that this trauma was a reasonable security measure. I was advised against pursuing any action against the TSA by my psychotherapist, who said that to do so would only traumatize me further.

So, the people who are most vulnerable to injury from these practices are the ones who are least equipped to fight back. But supposedly we're living under a "liberal" and "compassionate" administration that honors the Constitution. Yeah, right.

Jackie D
at April 26, 2011 8:38 AM

I flew to the Caymans through Dulles with my family last summer and was shocked/mortified when a TSA worker asked if I would allow her to pat search my chest and breast region.

I replied "No, it's not alright. But if there is no alternative then I don't have a choice if I want to make my flight."

She ran her hands under and between my breasts.

It was disgusting. There, in front of my father, my brother, and all manner of strangers, a woman touched me in places I hadn't allowed even cute dates to wander.

What was done to you is sickening. The dissolution of our freedom, the freedom we Americans so proudly exalt, is tragic. My father frequently bemoans that he did not spend a life going to war to preserve this sort of America.

Amy, I'm so sorry this happened to you and that it is permitted to happen at all to anyone. I recently had my first experience with the backscatter machine. Close to half of the people in line (including me) opted out. My inspection was far less invasive than yours and, while unnecessary and humiliating, did not seem to reach the standard of sexual assault.

While being patted down by the TSA screener, I asked what their policy was on allowing children through the machine. He said that they do not use the backscatter on children 12 and under, but will do so on teenagers if the parent approves. He seemed completely shocked when I asked him if he had formulated a criminal defense strategy for when is arrested for taking naked pictures of 13 to 17 year olds. He seemed like a reasonable enough person ("just doing his job" of course), but it genuinely seems he had never considered what it feels like for a passenger to go through this type of invasive search.

I remember two things he said about it: 1) the scanner doesn't give a clear picture of the genitals anyhow (I didn't ask him about the TSA screener in Miami who was fired for masturbating to backscatter images while on the job) and 2) "no one is going to look at this but the government". You can imagine just how much this set my mind at ease.

Frustrated too
at April 26, 2011 8:55 AM

“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.”
–Josef Mengele

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 8:56 AM

And to "Ralph," who writes:

How do we know what Amy posts is true?
Here are the only "facts" I can glean: 31March UAL flight from LA to Binghamton, NY.
She leaves out: time, flight number, airport, and "forgets" the TSA's name.
She is a professional writer. Is it just possible this little tale of TSA terror is a fabrication?
Posted by: Ralph at April 26, 2011 8:37 AM

Let's see, how would Emily Post phrase it . . . . Ralph, who the fuck are you? And why are you such a coward that you won't post under your real name, whereas Amy has no problem doing so? And why have you been living on Mars for the past few years, while thousands of people have been relating similar horror stories? Is it fun up there? Must be; no TSA there.

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 9:28 AM

Miss Simeone:

All I did was ask a simple question when my BS meter went offscale after reading Miss Alkon's rant.

Do you have independent verification of what she posted? If so please enlighten all. As it stands now I don't believe her. However if I were a TSA confronted by a hysterical woman I'm not so sure I would have treated her so gently.

Ralph Piekarski
at April 26, 2011 9:40 AM

I am so glad I will not have to fly for the foreseeable future. Last time was last year with 2 young kids. We got lucky, no search or anything. whew. I would have not been quiet about it!! I work with people who say, well this is the world we live in now..if it keeps us safe.... OMG!! I really go crazy with this kind of thinking! IT IS NOT OK!!!!!

Melody
at April 26, 2011 9:43 AM

The intrusive, groping searches are most often retribution for not being compliant and going through the scanner. It's punishment, humiliation, a demonstration of unbridled power over you.

In this particular case, the fact that the woman was crying loudly probably triggered the sadistic bully in Thedala Magee. No one was going to get away with making a scene like THAT. She had to be humiliated as much as possible to teach her to be quiet and passive while being felt up.

Ralph.... really? I for one am glad you are not a TSA agent.. although I think many of them may think as lamely as you do about what is right and what is NOT.

Melody
at April 26, 2011 9:45 AM

Oh, just walk through the scanner, and find a real boo-hoo to cry about. Jeez, louise.

Nuremberg? You mentioned Nuremberg? TSA workers and Nuremberg?

Let's see, the Nazis were bad because they searched people before they boarded trains? It seems the memory of the Holocaust is being somewhat cheapened.

BOTU
at April 26, 2011 9:56 AM

Ralph, as I said, you must've been living on Mars -- probably still are. Thousands of people have related similar stories (including personal friends of mine). But I'm sure they're all lying. Every last one of them.

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 9:58 AM

@Ralph: You are an idiot, period. Amy is a respectable journalist with no known history of printing/publishing anything that is not true... The TSA, however, has hundreds - nay 1000's - of complaints against them for similar indecencies. So in an effort to be polite and professional - AYFKM? You're as bad as the TSA and federal government for assuming we are all guilty until proven innocent. I feel like I'm living back in the middle ages.... I'll use the same logic you used to justify your position in my closing statement: You probably enjoy being groped, that's why you question Amy's credibility.

Lee

Lee Ladisky
at April 26, 2011 9:59 AM

While the story seems plausible and is consistent with other anecdotal stories, Ralph does ask good questions.

Will you be going to the Inspector General with this? Will you file a formal complaint?

Or is this just blog fodder?

traveler
at April 26, 2011 10:03 AM

Oh, brother, here comes BOTU again. He still doesn't get it. But rather than waste my time explaining what unreasonable search and seizure means, I'll just point out -- again -- that just because you go through the stripsearch scanner doesn't mean you won't also be singled out for a grope. Read the fucking newspapers. Learn something.

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 10:06 AM

Here is some more "fun" reading on this topic.. and this whole thing completely infuriates me!

No, Melody, don't you know they're all lying, just as Ralph, BOTU, and "traveler" point out? Every day in this country, people have nothing better to do than fabricate stories about TSA abuse, just like the ACLU and EPIC have nothing better to do than collect said fabricated stories and institute lawsuits against DHS, and journalists such as Amy, Christopher Elliott, Daniel Rubin, Jennifer Abel, and I have nothing better to do than document and repeat them. Ah, yes, it's so much fun -- making up nasty shit because there's no real nasty shit going on!

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 10:13 AM

Lisa, very sad these types are in the country while we fight for our constitutional freedoms, those types lay down while they are taken away!

Melody
at April 26, 2011 10:17 AM

Sommer Gentry is a math professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. (Google her if you don't believe me 'cause I make shit up). She used to fly frequently. But she has stopped because she got sick of being groped by so many TSA goons, including men, and because this was finally the last straw:

Ralph and traveler, innappropriate groping aside, which attempted terrorist attack would this type of frisking have actually prevented? The underwear bomber? The shoe bomber? Of course, they caught all of those agents going through the airport in Florida with guns using the scanners and invasive searches...

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2075205">comment from traveler

Will you be going to the Inspector General with this? Will you file a formal complaint?

I'm on deadline now, so I can't respond in detail to these comments. I didn't make this up. I told people at the airport that it happened afterward. I wrote the woman's name down.

Why would complaining formally be a stumbling block? I just didn't think about it -- because this stuff seems to be sanctioned. I didn't realize there were limits to how they could grope you. I blogged before about having my breasts rather comprehensively felt up at McCarran airport.

This isn't an isolated incident that happened only to me. Look at the video of the 6-year-old child being groped! (Recent video.)

Got to go back to my column. Tough day. Will comment further when I can.

I never said she was lying. Why can't she come up with more facts, such as flight number, time, airport, witnesses, etc?

I appears to me that Miss Alkon posted this to pump her own blog. There is no real evidence other than what she says that her story is true. I am not saying it did not happen, just that there is no credible evidence that it did happen.

Critical examination of the evidence rather than name calling and sarcasm would be most welcome.

Ralpf
at April 26, 2011 10:24 AM

I am, for now, neutral as to whether or not the story is true.

If no formal complaint is made, and if no other corroborating facts are provided, I will accept Amy's post as an unsupported anecdote.

I hope and trust that Amy is being factual.

Does the TSA step out of line? Yes. Lots of stories, videos and court cases back that up.

Have people made up stories about the TSA? Yes. Google: seattle tsa refused service

So, I am watching this story with interest. I think the questions asking for more detail and pointing out the lack of corroboration are fair, basic questions.

I find the vulgarity that has been injected into the discussion very interesting. How quickly the conversation moved to foul mouthed insults when challenged.

Ralph, if I wanted to "pump my own blog," I'd write about celebrities. My blog makes me almost no money (I make a tiny bit from ad clicks and about $100 a month from Amazon) -- what makes me money is my column and book, and blogging actually takes away from the time I can spend on column and book-writing.

I write this blog (and spend rather vast amounts of time on it) because I find that the people who come to comment here create a discussion forum that's pretty interesting and exciting, and because they rather often elevate my thinking on an issue with their posts.

I wrote this post -- a painful post to write, by the way, because I had to dwell on what was done to me -- because I think it's essential that people do as I did and make it tough for people to violate our rights -- and our bodies.

My experience is ANYTHING but rare. It's not like I'm telling you I saw a one-eyed alien. I even gave the name of the woman who violated me, although I can't be sure which is her first and which is her last name. She was an overweight black woman -- probably weighs about 250 pounds, I think, and had her hair pulled back.

"Critical examination of the evidence..." Right. Because a boarding pass is going to prove to you that it happened?

That brings up an interesting thought, though. If they're going to physically search people, they should be required to film every single search and hold onto the video (at least) until the statute of limitations runs out... and they should be public record, since the agents aren't doing anything wrong and are only keeping us "safe."

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2075218">comment from ahw

Agree, ahw, about taping. Also, I found it silly that my boarding pass could prove anything to anyone. If, however, it makes anybody feel any cozier inside, when I'm done with my deadline, I can take a photo of it and post it!

"Ralph and traveler, innappropriate groping aside, which attempted terrorist attack would this type of frisking have actually prevented?"

WHOA! Where did THAT come from?

Why on earth are you asking me to defend that?

There was NOTHING in any of my posts to lead any reasonable, literate person to believe I support the scanning and groping of people by the TSA.

I try to have informed opinions. Opinions backed by fact. At this point this is simply an unsupported anecdotal story. That is getting traction in the broader media. I find it very plausible. But I can only accept it as just someone's story unless there is some corroboration.

From Amy's outrage and talk of lawyers I had an expectation that she would take actions and at LEAST file a complaint. I'll be interested in seeing who Amy talked with at the airport.

I hope she moves forward with this and does not drop it.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 10:36 AM

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper

Scarily on-target.

momof4
at April 26, 2011 10:37 AM

"WHOA! Where did THAT come from?"
What's the justification for this type of search? Why was Amy put into this position in the first place? If this security theater weren't taking place, this discussion wouldn't be happening. That's where it came from.

ahw
at April 26, 2011 10:41 AM

ahw, Why are you calling on me to answer that question of yours?

ahw you addressed me and asked, "which attempted terrorist attack would this type of frisking have actually prevented?"

Why are you calling me out to defend the TSA's actions? You want to defend their actions? You go right ahead. Please have the courtesy to not call me out by name and try to get me to defend or justify screening procedures.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 10:49 AM

I'm sorry you went through this, Amy. It was traumatic enough the first time, but to have to endure it a second time (and knowing that it was coming) must have been dreadful for you.

I was trying to imagine what I would have done in your scenario. I would have wanted to whip out my phone and videotape the agent touching me. But TSA making you assume the position with your arms out renders your hands useless.

Why the American public isn't more outraged over this is truly beyond my grasp.

Jen Wading
at April 26, 2011 10:51 AM

Traveler:
I didn't realize that you were the only one who was allowed to ask questions. You must be a delight at cocktail parties.
Sanctimonious little fuck.

ahw
at April 26, 2011 10:58 AM

I'm really sorry this had to happen like this. However, if frisks like this keep some whacko terrorist from being on the same plane as I am on, it is a small price to pay. I don't care if someone sticks thieir finger up my ass as long as I know my plane is safe.

Funny how you are hearing alot about "my constitutional rights" on this blog concerning this issue, but nothing about obamacare, gun laws, child custody BS, or any of our other freedoms getting stomped on by the government. I am calling out the hypocrisy...

mike
at April 26, 2011 11:04 AM

Mike, they could break out the rectal probes for everyone. There's no way you can KNOW a plane is "safe."

There is no way for anyone to guarantee safety. Period. To try is foolhardy, and to expect it is nonsense.

Chris
at April 26, 2011 11:14 AM

Amy, I'm so sorry this happened to you! The steps the TSA has chosen to take are truly disturbing and disheartening. It's enough to make you wonder if the terrorists won after all. In any case, I'm in no hurry to fly anywhere anytime soon.

Mike, its people like you who roll over that is ruining the country. I do/did not feel safer boarding a flight a few times last year because the young and old were harassed prior to boarding the flight. It sickens me, and I won't fly.

Melody
at April 26, 2011 11:32 AM

However, if frisks like this keep some whacko terrorist from being on the same plane as I am on, it is a small price to pay. I don't care if someone sticks thieir finger up my ass as long as I know my plane is safe.

Um, no. No it doesn't. Frisks like this only serve to make those who WOULD try to blow up planes find ways around the frisks. Here in the USA, we need to do the kind of profiling they do in Israel:

Too bad the other sanctimonious idiots in charge are too busy kowtowing and being afraid of "offending" those who want to kill us, isn't it?

And while I'm at it, it's obvious you don't read this blog very much, mike, because all of these issues about obamacare, gun laws, child custody BS, or any of our other freedoms getting stomped on by the government and more most certainly HAVE been discussed by Amy and most of us who visit this blog on a regular basis. Take your sanctimonious attitude, along with "traveler" over there, and stuff it. It's people like you two who are actually contributing to the erosion of our rights, because you actually have been lead to believe (like the sheeple that you are), that it's "for our safety". Nothing could be further from the truth. It's all about making money for another greedy porker who lies better than the rest of us.

Flynne
at April 26, 2011 11:33 AM

I see the ACLU is taking complaints from people whose rights have been violated by the TSA.

Amy, you rock! I am so proud of you for making sure everyone in that terminal knew that the TSA was inflicting purposeful, forcible sexual abuse on an innocent traveler. These depraved thugs have no right to touch anyone in this horrific manner.

How on earth could anyone suggest I am *safer* because the government is paying people to shove their hands down my pants and take naked pictures of me? Being stripped naked, irradiated, having my breasts and labia handled by strangers, my pants opened, separated from my valuables, threatened, belittled, menaced in every way by immoral villains who get their money by laying their hands on childrens' sexual organs - this is pretty much my definition of unsafe.

Fight! Write letters to your state and national representatives, your airlines, your hotels, the TSA, the ACLU, and EPIC. Boycott flying. Talk to your friends about this travesty. These disgusting assaults will stop when we stand together and FIGHT!

Sommer Gentry
at April 26, 2011 11:47 AM

"...Funny how you are hearing alot about "my constitutional rights" on this blog concerning this issue, but nothing about obamacare, gun laws, child custody BS, or any of our other freedoms getting stomped on by the government. I am calling out the hypocrisy..."
*****************************************

"...than to speak out and remove all doubt." (C'mon, you know the first part- Abe Lincoln said it! Or perhaps you were being sarcastic, and it didn't translate in type- surely you can't be this stupid.)

ahw
at April 26, 2011 12:04 PM

Mike writes: "I don't care if someone sticks thieir finger up my ass as long as I know my plane is safe."

Yes, the slaves speak! The mentality of millions of Americans. Slaves at heart and eager to enslave the rest of us. As I've said so many times when this issue comes up, some people just won't be happy until Uncle Sam sticks his fingers up their asses. Et voilà!

Keep hanging onto your fantasy of A World With No Risk and 100% Security, Mike. And keep handing over your rights and your body to the security overlords who tell you it's for your own good. Eventually, you'll get exactly what you're asking for.

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 12:08 PM

ahw: Why did you call on ME to defend the TSA's actions? I do not defend or support their excesses.

Why do you resort to profanity and insult when I ask you a simple question, still unanswered;

Why did you call on me to defend the TSA's actions?

traveler
at April 26, 2011 12:13 PM

Funny how you are hearing alot about "my constitutional rights" on this blog concerning this issue, but nothing about obamacare, gun laws, child custody BS, or any of our other freedoms getting stomped on by the government. I am calling out the hypocrisy...

Posted by: mike

This right here, mike, this proves to are fucking retarded and have lost your grip on reality

Loojy, don't waste your time. We've already pointed out his idiocy. But I guess you can call him out on it again, he's so dense he probably needs a multitude of us to do so.

Traveler, give it a rest. ahw did NOT "call on you" to defend the TSA's actions. It's called "rhetoric". Please look it up and come back when you've learned to stand on your own two feet without a straw man. Or better yet, don't bother coming back at all. The reason she swore at you is because you ARE a sanctimonious little fuck. She calls 'em like she sees 'em.

Flynne
at April 26, 2011 12:23 PM

And for the record, traveler, my issue with your postings is that you think you are going to get ahw to tell you why she supposedly called on you to defend the TSA's actions, when she did nothing of the kind. She jsut wanted you to THINK before you post. But I guess that's like trying to teach a pig to sing, which only wastes one's time, and annoys the pig.

Flynne
at April 26, 2011 12:28 PM

Flynne,

Who is Kendra?

Why did you provide a link to the Chertoff story? I know about that. I know that the tech Chertoff pimps for is more dangerous than MMW. I know that Chertoff has misrepresented the abilities of his client's product.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 12:29 PM

Flynne,

ahw was NOT using rhetoric. ahw was not using language for persuasive effect. ahw called me out by name and addressed a question to me.

"Ralph and traveler, innappropriate groping aside, which attempted terrorist attack would this type of frisking have actually prevented?"

--- get ahw to tell you why she supposedly called on you to defend the TSA's actions, when she did nothing of the kind. ---

Her question is above. It is direct and addressed to me. It asks me to address a premise I do not subscribe to. I do not feel that the current invasive procedures make us any safer.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 12:38 PM

This still amounts to nothing more that, "She, she said".

There is absolutely no proof the incident ever took place. Perhaps that is why Miss Alkon did not file a complaint?

Notice I am not saying that it didn't take place just that there is no proof it took place. Until I receive more proof than the post of some internet blogger I remain highly skeptical.

Also I in no way approve of or support the actions of the TSA. This is but one infringement of rights and it pales in comparison to the almost total trampling of our Second Amendment rights which are much more important than a few moments inconvenience at an airport.

Ralph
at April 26, 2011 12:41 PM

Oh, good, traveler has found time to look up the word "sanctimonious."
Perhaps it came to mind after reading this little tidbit: "I find the vulgarity that has been injected into the discussion very interesting. How quickly the conversation moved to foul mouthed insults when challenged."
-or-
"If no formal complaint is made, and if no other corroborating facts are provided, I will accept Amy's post as an unsupported anecdote."

And, I've already told you: If this security theater weren't taking place, this discussion wouldn't be happening. That's where the questions came from. That, and your implication that someone who is generally credible is telling her personal story for the sake of "blog fodder" certainly suggests that you find the institutionalized groping of innocent people justifiable, and you're grasping at ways to discredit the story.

ahw
at April 26, 2011 12:44 PM

@Ralph "it pales in comparison to the almost total trampling of our Second Amendment rights which are much more important than a few moments inconvenience at an airport"

I think the Fourth and the Second Amendments have equal weight, being all Constitutional 'n stuff.

At the risk of repeating myself I will say I'm mystified by how keeping a convicted felon from going duck hunting keeps me safe. Martha Stewart just isn't dangerous.

Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers
at April 26, 2011 12:47 PM

Martha Stewart just isn't dangerous.

Her Westport neighbours would take issue with that, Gog!!

"Ralph and traveler, innappropriate groping aside, which attempted terrorist attack would this type of frisking have actually prevented?"

Well, gee, traveler, I think that's a question you could answer whether or not ahw wanted you to "defend" the TSA's actions! She wasn't asking you to defend the TSA with that question, she was asking which attempted terrorist attack would this type of frisking have actually prevented! So, just by the phrasing alone, she wasn't asking for you to defend the TSA, she was asking you which attempted terrorist attack [that] type of frisking would have prevented! So that makes it a TOTALLY DIFFERENT QUESTION than that of "defense of the TSA"!!

I can't believe I had to spell that out for you. It would seem you really DID have to use a dictionary to look up the word "sanctimonious". And you still haven't demonstrated any uderstanding of the question, so I guess you're TSOL there, too.

Flynne
at April 26, 2011 1:01 PM

(Flynn is right. Rhetorical questions.)

@Gog: I think they have equal weight too, and the fact that The Powers That Be are finding ways to erode both are at least somewhat related...Kind of a chicken-or-egg thing. Is it, "We're conducting a search for your legal weapons," or "We're taking your weapons so we can search you at will"?

ahw
at April 26, 2011 1:11 PM

Hi Amy,

Sorry to hear that you had to go through this. I filed suit against the TSA for their pat downs and nude body scanners last November. What I can tell you is that according to all I've learned, the screener was not acting in accordance with the instructions of the government. TSA screeners, via their own rules, are not to conduct a pat down in a way that leaves them inside of you.

That said, I encourage you to file a police report and seek criminal charges. My understanding is if the actions are outside of the search the screener was supposed to give, they cannot claim immunity due to government mandate.

I have already responded to the question "which attempted terrorist attack [that] type of frisking would have prevented". My reply was:

"I do not feel that the current invasive procedures make us any safer."

Just for clarity that means that I do not know which, if any, of the terrorist attacks we have seen would be stopped by the groping.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 1:28 PM

Flynne and ahw,

Thank you for your replies. I begin to understand.

Because I don't like profanity, vulgarity and insult in public discourse; I am sanctimonious.

Because I am not blindly supportive enough for you, because I am not firmly enough on your side of the issues I am a target for profanity and insults.

Thanks again for your responses to my questions.

traveler
at April 26, 2011 1:36 PM

Flynne...thank you. I'd add to what you said, but frankly, you said it all quite succintly.

sara
at April 26, 2011 1:56 PM

@gog---What the hell does Martha Stewart have to do with this rant? And in case you didn't know the 2nd has nothing to do with duck hunting or any other hunting. Convicted felons have long been prohibited from owning firearms, as they should be.

The TSA could be completely eliminated if responsible citizens were allowed to carry arms aboard planes. Just think no more groupings and scannings, just show your picture ID and your CCW and get on the bus.

All the amendments are important, however it never cease to amaze me that liberals often seem to forget about the Second.

Ralph
at April 26, 2011 2:09 PM

"The TSA could be completely eliminated if responsible citizens were allowed to carry arms aboard planes."

"I'm really sorry this had to happen like this. However, if frisks like this keep some whacko terrorist from being on the same plane as I am on, it is a small price to pay. I don't care if someone sticks thieir finger up my ass as long as I know my plane is safe.

Funny how you are hearing alot about "my constitutional rights" on this blog concerning this issue, but nothing about obamacare, gun laws, child custody BS, or any of our other freedoms getting stomped on by the government. I am calling out the hypocrisy..."

Really Mike? Everything you brought up are frequent topics here. And if you think it's okay to be cavity-searched to fly cause you FEEL safer, do yourself and the rest of us a favor and toss your own ass into a large body of water with a heavy weight attached. Your kind fucks things up for the rest of us, and damn it we're tired of it. At the very least, please stop voting.

Traveler, this is Amy's blog, and she's okay with cursing. She's not okay with boring sheep. You may or may not be one, but don't come on here and tell the rest of us how to talk.

momof4
at April 26, 2011 2:18 PM

Y'know, traveler, I hate to cast aspersions, but you're about as bright as a pound of wet leather.

Flynne
at April 26, 2011 2:22 PM

I've often critiqued Amy re: her claims that the TSA pat-downs constitute sexual assault. However, her previous missives omitted some of the distinguishing facts now revealed. I'd confidently argue that an over-invasive search that goes beyond the rule of law would provide fertile grounds for a claim. Discovering what that rule of law actually is poses some difficulty and raises what, to me, is the most insidious ramifications of current TSA practice: namely, WE, THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC, ARE NOT INFORMED AS TO WHAT STANDARDS ARE ACTUALLY GOVERNING TSA PROCEDURES.

This opaqueness strikes at the very heart of our democracy, which relies entirely on transparency for self-correction. I myself am a tax lawyer who has been practicing for 15 years. I am very familiar with the intricacies of researching laws and regulations. Yet, it still took me over an hour to discover the following: 1) the operative regulations here are 49 CFR 1544.305 and 49 CFR 1544.407(f), which require, in part, that airport operators adopt TSA "Security Directives" and "Information Circulars." OK, so far so good. That's not unusual. What IS unusual is this, ever so brief, comment from TSA's website: "For security reasons, the specific details of the directives are not public."

Um. OK.

Interlude: next time you go outside, look at any street sign regulating your parking. See that Municipal Code reference at the bottom of the sign? That's a transparent democracy telling you what rule you may be violating in advance of your breaking it. The idea of providing notice is central to our justice system and it permeates nearly every local, state, and federal law.

Except this one.

So let's take Amy's claim to the next logical step: a state lawsuit against TSA and the TSA employee. Amy has to prove that the employee's search exceeded guidelines. So Amy's lawyer subpoenas TSA to provide the details of the applicable Security Directive. TSA says "no - national security." Now Amy's lawsuit is mired in significant constitutional and federal separation of powers issues just to determine the rules that are at play.

Which is fine . . . if Amy had unlimited resources and time to devote to this cause (and/or perhaps a willing activist constitutional lawyer who knows his shit).

This is NOT an unwinnable fight. Its just going to take the right combination of willing parties to pursue it.

snakeman99
at April 26, 2011 2:36 PM

"This is but one infringement of rights and it pales in comparison to the almost total trampling of our Second Amendment rights which are much more important than a few moments inconvenience at an airport."

Fascinating.

You don't know the two are intimately related. It's OK because it wasn't you?

You need to spend a few minutes quoting Niemoller. Out loud.

Radwaste
at April 26, 2011 2:39 PM

Martha Stewart and now Archie Bunker and Niemoller? Seems like a lot of people around here are incapable of refuting my logic with other than gibberish.

Makes me further doubt the veracity of the incident.

Ralph
at April 26, 2011 2:47 PM

I tell you they came for my guns a long time before they came for your crotch

Where were you?

Ralpf
at April 26, 2011 2:51 PM

There have been so many TSA horror stories that six states have state bills pending to make thesesearches a crime and ban the scanners. they have also formed a coalition to lobby Congress to curb the TSA abuses.

An Alaska State Representaive, Sharon Cissna who is a breat cancer survivor refused to be felt up when scarring showed up on the scanner as something that needed to be checked. She had already experienced one traumatic feel up. The TSA at the airport failed to intimidate her and she decided she would not fly. She later testified at a hearing Congressman Chaffetz held about the TSA. (To get to Washington, she had to fly from airports that don't have this stuff yet. )

This stuff is pretty wide spread. There was a recent you tube video of a 12 year old girl being felt up by the TSA. Congressman Chaffetz's teenage daughter, traveling with her mom, was taken to a private room without her mom's knowlege or permission and had her breasts felt up. Chaffetz has introduced a bill to pevent this in the futer (if it passes).

PS It's my deadline day and I'm still working like mad (and will have to go out after my work day to something with Gregg), but I had a moment to comment. More when I have a spare hour, probably later tonight or early tomorrow.

"I Won't Fly" -- yes, those and thousands of others. I've been compiling a list of stories, and obviously those are only the ones that get a modicum of publicity. Who knows how many more are happening that only get relayed to family & friends? The document on my computer is now 45 pages -- and that's just headlines and links. 45 pages of headlines and links to stories of assault and abuse.

The ACLU and EPIC and various lawyers have also been collecting stories. But people like Ralph don't get it. And won't get it, until it happens to them or their loved ones. Then there will be a great hue and cry. (Or maybe not -- "Mike" above is just fine with Uncle Sam sticking his fingers up his ass.)

We can't convince such people; it's pointless to try.

Lisa Simeone
at April 26, 2011 3:02 PM

momof4 I know I am the target du jour here, but thank you for the kind words. ("You may or may not be a boring sheep") Kindest I will probably get around here. ,>)

"but don't come on here and tell the rest of us how to talk"

Is that in reference to the fact that I objected to discourse here that includes profane and vulgar ad hominem attacks?

Thank you for helping me to understand the culture here.

Wow, it is just fucking great to know that Amy is ok on cursing! Bit of a bloody goddamned disappointment if she does not draw the line at using the language in ad hominem attacks. But who gives a shit, its her fucking blog, brand and image. Good for her for not giving a shit about fucking civil discourse. It is way over rated and becoming a lost art. Lets speed it to its fucking grave and break out the cross haired surveyors icons. Who cares one bloody fart up a dead rat's ass about civility and substance in public discourse.

Certainly not some of the fucks who post here.

:)

traveler
at April 26, 2011 3:03 PM

Flynne,

You are a god damned liar.

"I hate to cast aspersions"

Bullshit. You love it! Beats addressing issues. I wonder if you get jealous when that little asshole ahw gets in ahead of you.

Fuck all you assholes!

..and I sincerely hope you all have a good evening.

:)

I am so glad to help move the fucking debate here into the bullshit exchange that some fucking idiots here seem to want.

Amy, fucking wonderful to hear from people on your blog that you support ignorant god dammed foul mouthed name calling. Well, that bullshit sells and brings audiences. Not sure that it does does anyfuckingthing for the community or society.

I was horrified when I read it a couple of weeks ago. It basically said shut up, do what the TSA tells you and go have a drink afterwards. It has improved a bit since then but there is room for more improvement. It is a wiki so anyone here can edit. Thanks!

JaJo
at April 26, 2011 3:13 PM

Amy, I'm so sorry you endured that TSA grope. What is particularly horrible is that your account is almost identical to Susie Castillo's experience -- also posted today, right down to the hand ramming into the vagina four times. Her description made me sick, as did yours -- I wish the TSA didn't exist. It's all security theater, and has nothing to do with making us any safer when we travel.

I am also sorry that your blog has been targeted by the government shills and apologists who probably get handsomely paid to stir up trouble on the forums where opinions critical of the DHS and TSA predominate.

The filthy rant coming at the point it did makes me think the poster must be a TSA employee.

-mlb
at April 26, 2011 3:35 PM

Ralph, the point made earlier - that trampling of 2nd Amendment rights is worse than the trampling of 4th Amendment rights - is how Martha Stewart, ex-convict and felon, came into the conversation via my comment.

My point being that the government-loved fear factor drives the acceptance of creeping fascism, whether it's getting groped by a McDonald's reject or keeping uber-housefrau Stewart from owning a shotgun.

Tell me you don't want a felon arsonist to have a lighter and a gas can and I understand. Tell me that you don't want a tax cheat going duck hunting so our children will be safe from gun violence and you're off in la-la land.

Amy's grope did not keep us safe, the groping of the six-year-old did not prevent a terrorist attack, and preventing non-violent offenders from going duck hunting is not preventing anything but the taking of waterfowl.

The Constitution and all the Amendments are our legacy and the light of the West, and some of these fat slobs in uniform would throw it away for a moment's power over an innocent citizen.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2075627">comment from traveler

Amy, fucking wonderful to hear from people on your blog that you support ignorant god dammed foul mouthed name calling

I support free speech. If you don't like somebody's speech here, you're free to debate it, but don't get your big girl's blouse in a bunch if somebody debates you back.

By the way, I can't help but observe, vis a vis your comment above, that foul language doesn't seem to be a problem for you. If it were, would you be responding in kind? If you dislike expletives but are using them right and left, it seems you are not acting but reacting -- letting yourself be manipulated like a puppet by other commenters. Oops.

As for what swear words do on a positive note, I heard Pinker speak at the Northeast Evolutionary Psych Society conference in New Hampshire a few years back about how they command people's attention in a way less, uh, earthy words do not. There will be a swear word in the title of my next book. I've tested it on about 125 people now, and basically, I've come to believe I could sell a book of blank pages with this title on it.

By the way, Albert Ellis swore like mad. (That's Albert Ellis, the late co-founder, with the less pottymouthed Aaron Beck, of cognitive behavioral therapy.) Al felt that throwing in fucks and shits and "you're not a shit, you're just behaving shittily" with all the smart, therapeutic stuff he said made what he was saying more accessible to ordinary people. He was also a pretty mirthful guy. I particularly loved when, if somebody said, "Fuck you!" he'd say, "No, UNfuck you...fucking's a good thing."

As Supreme Court justice Harlan said re: Cohen v. California, 1971 (the "fuck the draft" case): "One man's vulgarity is another's lyric." I believe one of the Supremes (and I don't mean the ones who sang with Diana Ross) also noted that sometimes the "wrong" words are precisely the right words to communicate a particular message.

>For what it's worth, when I mentioned it to my >father, a radiologist, he said the radiation from >the backscatter is minimal and not harmful.

>Lizzie at April 26, 2011 4:03 AM

Lizzie, does he have a source that has independently tested these machines to see exactly what they are doing in the field?

kenmce
at April 26, 2011 4:07 PM

GOG---Felons are now prohibited from owning guns. I'm OK with that. Got it?

My only purpose here is to question whether or not the incident occurred as stated. There is no proof one way or the other and to excoriate me does nothing to answer the question.

It seems that this backwater of the internet attracts mostly Liberals who voted for the National Lawn Jockey.

Ralpf
at April 26, 2011 4:09 PM

The Constitution and our Bill of Rights are under constant assault, especially at Airports. We must not go quietly into the night, complain, write your CongressCritter, file an assault charge with the Police (even if they don't follow-up). We must remain vigilant. BTW if our Congress people don't have to be frisked than why us?

Yes, I understand your fear, but I'm here to tell you that all felons are not the same. Violent is not the same as non-violent.

Abandonment of rights is not acceptable to liberty-loving people.

Airport groping is unnecessary.

You do not have to live in fear because the government tells you to.

Thank me if you like. I just saved you from a lifetime of baseless worry.

Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers
at April 26, 2011 4:31 PM

Some interesting questions here. How can we tell if Ms. Alkon is speaking true? Anywhere you go on the web the veracity issue is important. This is of course an especially relevant question for a newbie.

Myself, I judge this site pretty much the same way I judge any weblog, by its record and reputation, and by its behavior during the time I have been visiting. I know I can be fooled some of the time, but doubt that I can always be fooled all the time by the same person.

A short way to say this is that we develop b*llsh*t detectors. With time and experience your detector (hopefully) developes a good calibration.

My B.S. detector says that Ms. Alkon is a level headed woman who is heavily biased towards the factual. Could I be wrong? Sure, but until I get some kind of evidence otherwise I am going to go with my best judgement. Ralph can believe or not believe me as he choses, that's his privilege. I do hope that if he pops up as a newcomer on an established site, that he will at least be polite with his questions.

Ms. Alkon has a good rep with me and her story matchs closely with the stories of hundreds of other women who have been in the same situation. I'm chosing to believe that her account is the plain truth as experienced by her, nothing more, nothing less.

There are people suggesting she complain to various persons within the TSA hierarchy. I put this on a par with calling up Charlie Sheen to complain that his party is a little loud.

My personal opinion is that she has the character and gumption to do something about this, but not the neccesary wealth to take on this particularly disgusting tentacle of the federal govt.

I would like to offer her my sympathy for her mistreatment, and my moral support in this and all her endeavors.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2075680">comment from kenmce

Thanks, kenmce. I have no reason to invent being vaginally groped. I could suggest you sob and make a ruckus -- which I do suggest -- whether or not you are groped as vilely as I was. Any groping, for the purposes that we are being groped by government employees, should be loudly opposed.

Really, the fact that this woman got up in my vagina the way she did -- four times -- is really immaterial to the main point, the essential point: Asking people to sob, complain loudly, and generally make it emotionally awful for somebody in a TSA job to be "just following orders."

So, you are yelling in an airport: "YOU RAPED ME." And we are supposed to believe that nothing happened after that?

NO police were called? TSA would call them in an instant just to shut you up and haul you off. At the very least I would expect a pile of smurfs (blue shirted TSA) to surround you.

Amy, you claim you were shouting in an airport "YOU RAPED ME". You claim that nothing came of it. Your statements strain my credulity. If all you do is bitch about it on this blog I call BS. Have you even filed an official complaint? Are you going to?

bunchofquestions
at April 26, 2011 6:21 PM

Cursing seems to dull pain, as well, according to a study at keele University among others. The situation in the US currently causes me pain. Better to curse than order Oxy online, I'd say.

momof4
at April 26, 2011 6:31 PM

"The point here: Don't go quietly. Pass it on."

What are you going to do? Are you going to pass this on? Officially? Or are you just grandstanding for your readers? If you are really as outraged by the events you report as you claim then why are you just blogging about it? Submit a complaint. Contact the IG. Begin an official paper trail of the incident. Become part of a solution that exposes the problems within the system instead of just someone else with a TSA story complaining to people they know instead of to the authorities.
...or are you afraid to file untrue documents that may have legal negative consequences for you.
I really hope you do carry through with this. Your cause is just. The cause does NOT need people claiming outrage and assault who will not file official complaints.

bunchofquestions
at April 26, 2011 6:34 PM

Damn, Amy... somehow I missed this post when I looked in earlier. Anyway, I have nothing to add except that I'm with you on this issue. We have somehow got to put a stop to this.

Cousin Dave
at April 26, 2011 6:35 PM

"My personal opinion is that she has the character and gumption to do something about this, but not the neccesary wealth to take on this particularly disgusting tentacle of the federal govt."

Wealth has nothing to do with it. Filing a complaint would cost nothing but a few moments of Amy's time. The TSA would not be able to claim that people have not been complaining. Here is one link for Amy to start the process:https://contact.tsa.dhs.gov/talktotsa/talktotsa.aspx

bunchofquestions
at April 26, 2011 6:42 PM

"neither name sounds like a typical American first name or last name"

"typical American name"

Here we have the epitome of prejudice. Her name was not American enough for you? Her name was not white enough for you? Not WASP enough? Not typical for the names of the people where you live? Bigot much?

The names that you in your prejudice think are 'typically American' will be replaced by 'typically American' names like García, Fernández, Hernandez and Gonzalez in the next few years. Look up the current top 20 American surnames right now. How many of them fit your idea of "typical American names"?

>bunchofquestions at April 26, 2011 6:42 PM
>Wealth has nothing to do with it. Filing a >complaint would cost nothing but a few moments of >Amy's time. The TSA would not be able to claim >that people have not been complaining.

*Sigh*

Try stopping over to the FlyerTalk forums. Work your way over to the Travel Safety/Security subsection. They have a good fifteen thousand threads on items relating to security and flying. Fire up the on-site search engine, browse around a little.

Nevermind what Ms. Alkon says, she's just one woman, maybe she's atypical. See for yourself what experienced travelers report about their experiences in the grope-me lines. See what they report happens to folks who annoy the smurf-men. See what they say about filing reports, 'cause lots of them have done it and stopped back to report on the results.

If you feel sympathetic while you're there, you can donate to the legal defense fund of Phillip Mocek, the last member who got uppity about his "rights" with the TSA

>Here we have the epitome of prejudice. Her name >was not American enough for you? Her name was >not white enough for you? Not WASP enough? Not >typical for the names of the people where you >live? Bigot much?

*Hmm, goes upthread to see the original paragraph

*ah, here it is:

>>UPDATE: I forgot to post the TSA woman's name >>when I wrote this last night. I think it might >>have been Thedala Magee. Or Magee Thedala. I >>was really upset, and neither name sounds like >>a typical American first name or last name, so >>I can't remember if I wrote it down in the >>right order.

*Actual quote says nothing negative about the woman, her color, her name, her ethnic background, hair, shoes, perfume or anything else. Actual quote just says that she had oddball name and that it is hard to remember which is the first part and which the last.

*Racecard FAILS miserably, but thanks for playing.

kenmce
at April 26, 2011 8:19 PM

Looks like "bunchofquestions" and "brownmenace" are traveler and ralph in new incarnations.

Pardon me, I just got back from a game dinner - lotsa venison chili, wild boar sausage with capatelli, pheasant with vegetables in a lovely white wine sauce, and salad with duck meat and oil and vinegarette dressing, YUM!! I didn't win a rifle in the raffle this time, just a bottle of wine.

Bullshit. You love it! Beats addressing issues. I wonder if you get jealous when that little asshole ahw gets in ahead of you.

Heeheheeheeeheeeeee! Yes, yes indeed I DO love it when I get under someone's skin when they know they're wrong and have been out-matched, outwitted nad outshined!! And the only way I'd ever be jealous of ahw is if she beat me to the wine bar and drank all of the merlot. Other than that, I love her to death and would do anything within my power to make her life easier and "traveler"-free. Same as I feel about Amy, Gog, lujlp, ltw, lovelysoul, kristen, Feebie, and myriad others who post here. But I most certainly do NOT feel that way about you.

o.O

Flynne
at April 26, 2011 8:21 PM

Miss Amy is getting a lot of mileage out of this all for her benefit. Let us see her follow up through official channels or will she just let her sycophants sing her sad tune?

Ralpf
at April 26, 2011 8:25 PM

Amy, I'm horrified and disgusted on your behalf. I almost hope I have to get the pat-down when I next travel, so I can make a scene and take names the way you did.

You're doing us and your country a great service by posting this.

Prunella
at April 26, 2011 8:28 PM

@brownmenace,
Kenmce pretty well beat me to it, but since you are SUCH an expert on names which the rest of us are not, please enlighten us as to which of the choices is a "common" last name, and also where it is common? I certainly don't want to be accused of being racist should I come across the name in the future.
BTW, Amy lives in LA. If any of the names you listed (García, Fernández, Hernandez and Gonzalez) were the name of the person doing the assaulting, I'm sure she'd remember which was first or which was last. Hell, I grew up in a mostly Czech farming town in MN, without one single Hispanic or Latino in my high school, and I know those are surnames. Thedala and Magee are both names I've never heard of, though. Sorry I'm not as enlightened as you seem to be. Please help rectify that.

Jazzhands
at April 26, 2011 8:58 PM

And wow, looks like a lot of DHS people in this comment thread!

Prunella
at April 26, 2011 9:07 PM

To all of you who say you don't believe Amy endured this hell unless she pursues a formal complaint: When a TSA screener sexually assaulted me, I filed dozens of complaints about the incident. Dozens. I filled out a complaint card at the airport not a minute after my attacker left me. I later complained in writing to TSA, TSA office of civil rights, DHS inspector general, my airline, my House representative, both of my Senators, the Department of Transportation, in writing to my local newspaper, and I was quoted in several mass media articles at the time about the incident. I never received any response beyond a form letter, except from Ben Cardin, who promised his office would look into the incident but never followed up with me. The TSA knew that their employee penetrated my body with a metal detector, but the TSA never apologized, never punished the screener, never sent her for retraining, never reviewed videotapes, nothing. None of the dozen or more people who have sued the TSA since November 2010 over being assaulted have had their day in court - TSA is working every delay tactic in the book to keep up their illegal and immoral sexual exploitation of innocent travelers.

I continue to file written complaints about the gauntlet of humiliation and abuse that the TSA sees fit to inflict on us, even though I won't fly. I am boycotting flying until the thugs in blue can learn to keep their filthy hands out of my pants. I don't know whether my actions are effective, but I am taking every action I can think of to fight gate rape. It will take all of us to end the violence against our bodies, but we will win.

Sommer Gentry
at April 26, 2011 9:38 PM

I am with Radwaste on this, as I usually am (but not always) DON’T FLY. Until the airline lose enough passengers that they are in danger of going out of business, nothing will be done and the TSA won't be reined in....

isabel1130
at April 26, 2011 9:49 PM

Amy, I'm with you. Time to hold someone repsonsible for the TSA. Make a real political connection with this fiasco. You can't battle beaurocrats, only elected officials. How do we make that happen?

matt
at April 26, 2011 9:58 PM

"I could suggest you sob and make a ruckus"

Sobbing isn't for everyone. Fart loudly and often.

Last year I came across this article about how there were more TSA employees at the Charlotte NC airport than regular airport staff:

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2078194">comment from bunchofquestions

Amy, you claim you were shouting in an airport "YOU RAPED ME". You claim that nothing came of it.

Of course nothing came of it. She did it in full view of lots of people, sanctioned by the government. Why is it still sanctioned by the government? Because so many people -- almost all people -- go quietly.

FYI, bunchofquestions, brownmenace, Ralph, and traveler are all commenters who showed up for the very first time today -- very, very angry and suspicious, and posting multiple times here. Who here wants to guess they know who they work for? In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if these are people who are employed to go around to blogs and dispute any post about the TSA. The pattern here -- a slew of first-time commenters, anger and expressed suspicion about me...it's just not how things work naturally, in my experience.

Moreover, as people who comment here regularly note, if you read me regularly, you can see I have a standard of openness and truth. I wrote the other day about how somebody advanced my thinking on stats on sexual assault (instead of pretending to be a know-it-all, which I did in my early 20s, when I was really insecure) -- and when I write about a study, I'll send the post to the author or authors of the study and ask them to correct anything I got wrong, and then print any corrections they might have.

Regarding the groping, as I wrote before, it's just a side note to the point -- don't go quietly -- and it happens to vast numbers of people all the time. Any man who flies with any regularity is regularly having strange men employed by the government touch his balls repeatedly.

What naive people think reporting this will do a goddamn thing? I'm always amused when people tell me to report "Do Not Call List" violators to the Federal Government. As I write in "I See Rude People," André-Tascha Lammé, of killthecalls.com, did a Freedom of Information Act request about the government's actions against telemarketing law violators and found that they go after only the tiny-weenie-weeniest fraction of them. Only by getting large numbers of people to act out in the TSA line -- or by some person of means bringing a court case -- will we have a chance of taking back our rights.

Ralph (or Ralpf as he signs), traveler, bunchofquestions, et. al. probably work for TSA or DHS, or at least troll for them. Nice to have you aboard, guys, spewing your disinformation. But you won't get any traction here. Too many of us know about your abuse and will not go gently into this or any other good night. And yes, we know about your petty, inscrutable Watch Lists and we know we're probably on them. Tough shit. If you spent half the time doing responsible intelligence that you spend harassing and intimidating innocent citizens, we might actually get somewhere in this country.

Thousands upon thousands of passengers -- male and female, all ages, all colors, all backgrounds, all classes -- have been and continue to be assaulted by the TSA. Incredulity and naysaying don't change the facts.

By the way, Amy, have you seen the latest on passports? The State Department wants to require so much personal information -- including questions like "have you been circumcised?" and "who was your mother's obstetrician?" -- that it reads like a parody from the Onion. Take a look at the news stories, folks. Under these insane proposals, half the people I know wouldn't be able to get a passport, or to renew:

Note from Amy: One link per comment, please, or your comment will go to spam, as this one did. Want to post a second link? Wait 20 seconds and post another comment. (Without the wait, your comment will not post or go to spam.)

Lisa Simeone
at April 27, 2011 2:53 AM

You know, I am so disgusted with the TSA (and being gate raped myself) that I am refusing to have children until this new police-state of a nation remembers and follows to the Constitution.

Nicole
at April 27, 2011 4:53 AM

Miss Akon---Next time forget the plane and take your broom.

Ralpf
at April 27, 2011 6:40 AM

OOoooooooo, Ralpf! Way to insult somebody! Absolutely scathing!

Not.

Flynne
at April 27, 2011 7:08 AM

Submission sexual violation in the name of safety is the same as having no safety.

Robert
at April 27, 2011 8:10 AM

Anyone who thinks TSA makes us safer has obviously never worked in an airport. While they're sexually assaulting adults and molesting children at the main entrance, there's unscreened cargo and unscreened employees arriving by the truck/busload around back. Everything they do is to make you FEEL safer – it doesn't actually MAKE you safer. Please join me in refusing to fly until TSA is stopped. If the airlines lose enough business, they'll lean on Congress to get this changed.

cool. I got exactly the response I expected from the very people I expected it from. If you can't present your case without personal attacks or vulgar language then you have lost all credibility.
I only work with facts. It is my job. The fact is that your government has decided that doing these types of searches will keep more travelers safe on airplanes. I have stated that I believe that is the case, and not one of you who called me names has a single fact to back up your claims that extra search techniques do not prevent terrorism.

This is the same government who you trust to regulate medicines, food, cosmetics, and automobile safety. This is the same government who fixes roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. This is the same government who protects this country from invaders and tries to keep people safe around the world. So why don't you trust them with keeping your airplanes safe, regardless of the cost?

We should take this a step further and embrace profiling. I fly alot, and this would make me feel safer.

All I read hear are a bunch of the typical posters with the old "its my body and I'll do what I want and I don't want anybody touching me." The solution is simple, like Melody said, don't fly then.

It is unfortunate that Amy had this experience in a search as described above, and I feel sorry for her. However, people need to follow the rules. Follow the rules or don't fly. Millions of people fly every day and have no problems with anything...they just accept that this is the price you pay for wanting to fly.

mike
at April 27, 2011 9:51 AM

"Lizzie, does he have a source that has independently tested these machines to see exactly what they are doing in the field?"

I don't know about the testing mechanism. His source was an article in the RSNA journal (Radiological Society of North America). If I understood him correctly, a backscatter gives you 0.1 microSieverts of radiation. For comparison, you get about 10 microSieverts a day just being here and 100 microSieverts from a chest x-ray. He further added that a chest x-ray is considered low dose in radiological terms. I don't myself know much about the topic; since x-rays are his gig and I trust his judgment I took what he said at face value.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2080101">comment from mike

I have stated that I believe that is the case, and not one of you who called me names has a single fact to back up your claims that extra search techniques do not prevent terrorism

Read Bruce Schneier's blog about how this is security theater. He has years of backup on this. Here's just one post of his, but it'll take you to all the rest if you search "security theater" on his blog.

Recently, a woman testing for the TSA got through FIVE times with a gun. The Israelis search for terrorists, not tweezers.

And anyone who trusts the government to protect their safety is naive. A friend of mine is an epidemiologist who spends a good bit of his time testifying before Congress on how the government has approved drugs that should never have been approved. And then there's the recent salmonella scare in chickens. All under the auspices of government regulation. And then that horrible bridge debacle a year or two in the midwest -- where it just fell into the water and many people were killed.

Trust the government? Right. If you do, I have an underwater bridge to sell you.

It is not just "unfortunate" that I (and many others) have had this experience. It is a dangerous threat to our rights and part of the near constant attempts to degrade them in the name of safety these days. This is not "the price you pay for wanting to fly." This is the price you pay for complacency about government rights grabs. If I or any person smart enough to hold their own in this comments section wanted to get a weapon or a bomb on a plane, they could.

My background is electrical engineering making odd measurements, worked for GE making x-ray machines years ago.

The backscatter x-ray dose is deceptively low due to how the measurement is averaged and how the particular ionization detectors used by the mfg respond to a fast moving x-ray beam. The
instantaneous dose to the skin and few cm of tissue is quite high perhaps 400-1000 x the "average" dose. The important info such as beam current needed to calculate the dose are missing from the report. Reading old patents and other docs fills in the missing info.

Also the REM dose assumes a whole body exposure of hard x-rays not applicable to soft x-ray that deliver most of the damage just a few cm deep. Soft x-rays are statically more damaging to DNA due to interaction with phosphate atoms that make up the DNA backbone. The intense soft x-ray pencil beam creates more difficult to repair double DNA breaks. One on
twenty have DNA repair issues due to a BRCA gene defect. An equal dose of random cosmic rays does not do the same damage as a bright brief collimated soft x-rays to the body. Links below have longer explanations for this subject.

I'd like to remind mike (the lower-case one) that our government that he trusts so much (the Congressional GAO) has said these new scanners probably would not have caught the so-called underwear bomber. Also, there was a recent report of a government employee (DHS or TSA, I forget which) who repeatedly made it through the scanner with a gun in her underwear while testing the new procedures. If TSA actually helped keep us safe, lower-case mike might have an argument that it's important to molest children and sexually assault adults, but all TSA does is security theater. It helps those who aren't paying attention feel like they're being kept safe Google "Bruce Schneier" if you'd like to be educated.

mike says he wants to be kept safe "regardless of the cost". I'd also like to remind mike that nothing in life is completely safe, and not every cost is a reasonable trade-off. Should we strip-search everyone before they go into a mall or a sporting event? We kill 30,000+ on the roads every year - maybe we should ban cars (or just have a national speed limit of 20 MPH.) Those things aren't reasonable, and neither is sexually assaulting my teenage children so they can go to Disney.

Mike
at April 27, 2011 10:12 AM

This is the same government who you trust to regulate medicines, food, cosmetics, and automobile safety. This is the same government who fixes roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. This is the same government who protects this country from invaders and tries to keep people safe around the world. So why don't you trust them with keeping your airplanes safe, regardless of the cost?

Uh HUH. The same government that let the FDA approve for sale a boatload of drugs that the companies that manufactured them are now engaged in lawsuits over, because said drugs ARE. NOT. SAFE. The same government that allows multitudes of illegal aliens in this country help themselves to all kinds of benefits that we the people pay for but don't have access to!
The same government that has been compromising our tax dollars by bailing out indudtries that didn't deserve it and that allows Wall Street and speculators to drive up the cost of oil based on fictitous "findings"!

Yeah, I really TRUST that same government. SURE I do.

Not.

Flynne
at April 27, 2011 10:30 AM

Riffing on Capital "M" Mike, there is no possible way, none, that we can develop gate security procedures that will keep every flight safe every time. It simply can't be done, regardless of how intrusive, dangerous, or outrageous the procedures become. A certain amount of inspection is perfectly fine, of course, but when we get to body probes (searching for what, exactly?) or radiological inspection, it's clear we passed the point of diminishing returns long, long ago.

Old RPM Daddy
at April 27, 2011 11:00 AM

mike writes: The fact is that your government has decided that doing these types of searches will keep more travelers safe on airplanes. I have stated that I believe that is the case, and not one...has a single fact to back up your claims that extra search techniques do not prevent terrorism.

Please look a moment to read through this article and the documents that it links to:

An interesting point from that link: the TSA refused to release the entirety of their Standard Operating Procedure when requested to do so under the Freedom of Information Act. But the points that the TSA did release indicate, to quote from the post:

"On its face, this document makes clear that TSA "screening" is being used primarily for purposes that are outside the TSA's legal authority, as a general screening dragnet for illegal drugs and other crimes and not for the limited purpose of aviation safety or security."

Another interesting point of note: the TSA has refused to fully release its SOP. Why is that? Why the secrecy on the part of the TSA, but demands made of the individual for full transparency and stripping of privacy in order for that individual to fly?

This is the same government who you trust to regulate medicines, food, cosmetics, and automobile safety. This is the same government who fixes roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. This is the same government who protects this country from invaders and tries to keep people safe around the world. So why don't you trust them with keeping your airplanes safe, regardless of the cost?

Medicines, food, cosmetics, and automobile safety are not issues that posters are currently addressing, and are irrelevant. The issue many are addressing here is individuals being searched without justifiable cause. People who wish to fly, but are forced to go through a bodily pat-down as an alternative to opting out of a body scanner are having their 4th Amendment rights - which protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures" - violated.

Jen Wading
at April 27, 2011 11:35 AM

mike writes: Follow the rules or don't fly.

What are the rules, exactly? The TSA refuses to release them to the public. They even refuse to release them under the FOIA. Please see this post:

"Eleven months after the deadline for their response set by the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), the TSA has finally responded to our request for the TSA “Standard Operating Procedures” referred to in December 2009 testimony to Congress by TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. The TSA did give us the list of SOPs (the first time this has been disclosed), but withheld the SOPs themselves in their entirely.

There are no laws or published regulations defining what the TSA is permitted to do, and what travelers are required to submit to, in the name of TSA “screening”."

Now, please enlighten me how an individual can follow "rules" when those "rules" are being purposefully withheld?

Jen Wading
at April 27, 2011 11:39 AM

Roberts comment gave me an amusing thought. Along with sobbing and blowing the rape whistle, what if some of us started moaning and making orgasm faces while they were groping our junk? I bet that would make some TSA agents pretty uncomfortable too... Im not sure what the laws are regarding sex in public (do you have to be exposing yourself to make it illegal?), but maybe there would be a way to tie it into that? Any lawyers out there that could maybe comment on that?

Chelsey
at April 27, 2011 12:53 PM

"This is the same government who you trust to regulate medicines, food, cosmetics, and automobile safety."

You gravely overestimate how much I trust the government to keep what I consume safe.

"a single fact to back up your claims that extra search techniques do not prevent terrorism. "

I'd prefer your proof that TSA is preventing terrorism. The shoe-bomber, the panty-bomber, and a small handful of would-be hijackers have all been stopped by alert and pissed off passengers. I have yet to hear of TSA stopping a terrorist in their screening.
"The government says it works," is not proof.

Elle
at April 27, 2011 1:05 PM

So, I wonder how many planned bombings have been deterred by our current screening system? Is that why people are resorting to shoes, underwear, and breast implants to carry weapons? Maybe, just maybe, the system IS working. But, really, we'll never know one way or the other.

At most people's jobs they have to do things every day that they don't like or do not agree with, but they do it so they can continue to have a job. You do what they tell you. Call it being a sheep if you want, but there is really not a thing you can do about it except find another job.

Same with the regs on screening passengers. You can kick and screem and moan and yell and cry all you want, but you will still go through the machine and you will still go through the gropes. And just maybe, there will be that one time where someone at TSA keeps a passenger from the plane you are on from getting on because he wanted to blow it up. Then you will bless your lucky stars that someone was looking out for you.

mike
at April 27, 2011 1:24 PM

So, I wonder how many planned bombings have been deterred by our current screening system? Is that why people are resorting to shoes, underwear, and breast implants to carry weapons? Maybe, just maybe, the system IS working. But, really, we'll never know one way or the other.

I would venture to say, not a one. But I can tell you another reason why there hasn't been another attack on American soil as of yet: the CIA and their covert ops that investigate sleeper cells and other people that you and I and the rest of the general public have never even heard of. The people that are under surveillance and the reasons for it not made general public knowledge are because of the bleeding heart liberals who will insist that their "rights" are being violated without giving a moment's thought to those people's "reasons", extreme as they may be, for wanting to violate OUR COUNTRY'S rights to exist. You have no idea just how many terrorist plots have been circumvented and prevented, because the general public doesn't NEED to know. The people running those ops know what they're doing. The TSA doesn't even have a clue. So continue being a sheeple, but just remember to give thanks for those spooks and other operatives who put their lives on the line for us every day, because they love our country and will give their lives (just as others have already given theirs) to keep us safe. The TSA is bullshit. The real shit that's being done is something you and I will never have knowledge of, or be privy to. Well, not YOU, anyway.

Flynne
at April 27, 2011 3:28 PM

Do you want to see a wonderful bit of misdirection?

Just look for the posts that talk about what a wonderful job "government" is doing.

Especially the part that reduces the public to crying as protest.

Yeah, that's what we want Americans to do: Cry. Not act. Anything to reinforce the idea that submission to authority is wonderful and keeps you safe.

Meanwhile, government isn't any better than the people.

Where the hell do you think government bureaucrats come from? Heaven?!

Radwaste
at April 27, 2011 4:42 PM

Radwaste nailed it~Act. Don't cry. Write your useless congressmen until they grow a set. Write your local papers. Complain to the ACLU. Raise as much hell as you possibly can, then do it again and again and again.

Don't just stop on the tsa freaks. Do it everywhere the government violates your rights! Don't know your rights? Read the Constitution (about 8 pages and read the Bill of Rights (about a page and a half). Memorize them. They are YOUR rights, not privileges!!!

Chaos
at April 27, 2011 7:00 PM

"So, I wonder how many planned bombings have been deterred by our current screening system?"

Zero.
Give me a hundred dollars of resources and an hour and I could get something dangerous through a TSA checkpoint. Especially now that the chemical sniffers (which would have been useful in detecting bombs) are offline since they were to too expensive. (Humiliation on the passengers' part is AOK though.) The biggest defense against hijackers is not somebody grabbing crotches, but the passengers and flight crew. If a TSA agent caught someone with ten pounds of C4 strapped to them it would be on the front of every goddamned paper to crow about how nessecary they are at keeping us safe. (Of course if I were going to wreak some serious damage I'd detonate in the middle of the security line.)

Terrorists (the not-clinically-retarded ones) aren't going to try to hijack a plane or bomb it. That trick has been done, people aren't going to sit and wait for the hijacker to demand to be taken to Cuba like they were 10 years ago. The passnegers will tackle your ass to the ground and keep you there if you try to light your underwear. The terrorists will try a new trick - it probably won't even involve airplanes or airports. Maybe shopping malls or football arenas or NASCAR races.

"Is that why people are resorting to shoes, underwear, and breast implants to carry weapons?"

I'm pretty sure even the dim-bulbest TSA agent would stop me if I showed up with ten sticks of dynamite in each hand - even before 9/11. Even you can't be such a dipshit to think that "making an effort to conceal a weapon" = effective security. You might as well say movie theater security is effective because people sneak their own snack in instead of carrying a McDonald's bag.

If there's a government agency keeping us safe it sure as fuck ain't the TSA. Flynne is right - there are safety concerns out there that our government is looking after, but the 14.25 an hour GED holdding TSA agent is not one of those crack agents.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2081387">comment from Chaos

Actually, making noise is an important part of this.

You put the word "useless" right in there: "Write your useless congressmen..."

Yeah, you can do that, too, but I hope you'll all join me in yelling, sobbing, moaning like you're turned on, complaining that you're being sexually violated at the top of your lungs. The process needs to be highlighted for what it is -- right when it's going on. That will become a news story, and that has more chance for power than one little old letter to your "useless congressman."

Thousands of letters have already been written. See any changes? For the better, I mean?

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2081414">comment from Elle

So, I wonder how many planned bombings have been deterred by our current screening system?" Zero. Give me a hundred dollars of resources and an hour and I could get something dangerous through a TSA checkpoint.

As I keep saying.

And these TSA lackeys are no El Al security force. My boyfriend arrived in Detroit hours before the pantybomber, and lucky thing I talked to him before I heard about that. The TSA dipshits heard there might be a bomb on that plane. Any person with three brain cells to rub together thinks, "Hmm, I think we'll deboard the plane away from the airport, in case there's something else explosive on it." Did they do that? Nope. Brought it right in to the Northwest hangar, where, had there been anything incendiary on it, it could have brought down at least part of the NW terminal and probably a good bit of the big, beautiful Westin overlooking the NW (now Delta) gates. Geeeeenius!

Whatever the amount of radiation, it's too much because it's unnecessary. A chest x-ray is of potential benefit to my health. These airport scanners don't make anybody a whit safer.

Lizzie
at April 28, 2011 4:24 AM

Even you can't be such a dipshit to think that "making an effort to conceal a weapon" = effective security.

Many years ago Elle (somewhere in the 90s) I was late for a flight for work and got sent straight through to the plane with my old luggable computer / toolbag which I had intended to check as well as my carry-on for a short hop flight. You wouldn't believe now the stuff I had in there - screwdrivers, knives, diagonal cutters, wire strippers, adjustable spanners. Not to mention that the bag weighed 20+ kgs, which is well over what the overhead lockers can withstand in an emergency. On the way back I got stopped and the guard checked whether the cutters I had would open fully - nope, ok you can go.

Unthinkable these days.

Ltw
at April 28, 2011 9:48 AM

"You can kick and screem [sic] and moan and yell and cry all you want, but you will still go through the machine and you will still go through the gropes."

Actually, no, I won't. I'm a former frequent flier (have flown to more than 30 countries and most of the US for business and pleasure) who has stopped flying altogether because I won't be scanned or groped. It has cut into my income and my joy, but I won't subject myself to those indignities and I won't waive my constitutional rights. And money talks. I'm hoping there are more people like me -- maybe if people fly less, the government will listen.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2085469">comment from Gail

A lot of people are saying that now, Gail, that they're cutting back as much as possible, or entirely, on flying, but it doesn't seem to be making an impact on these searches. If every person, or every other person, who is searched, makes noise about it, that is something that's not going to be ignored.

If I'm ever forced to fly for some reason (e.g., a loved one is dying and flying is the only way to see him one last time), I'll choose the grope and I'll kick up a fuss, don't you worry. I agree that's the best thing to do if you must fly. But I don't absolutely need to fly, at least not at the moment. And the mere idea of having my breasts and vagina touched by these goons fills me with such fury and disgust that I can't subject myself to it unless I absolutely must.

In the meantime, I'm writing letters to the airlines and my useless government representatives.

Gail
at April 28, 2011 2:31 PM

Back right and to the left,
and front right and to the left

Back right and to the left,
and front right and to the left

Texas is the reason
that the President is dead

Glenn D
at May 13, 2011 3:14 PM

Wow over-reaction.

Sobbing in the line like a child throwing a tantrum...asking a lawyer about sexual assault charges - perpetuating our sue-happy society...posting a TSA worker's name without even knowing if she had broken rules?

You are a writer. People read what you have to say. Deal with things constructively. Work by posting what the pat-down rules are and EDUCATING the public. Start petitions, talk to legislators. If you really care about this cause there are many better, more constructive ways to fix this than the road you took.

Andrea
at May 31, 2011 11:21 AM

I find your story extremely hard to believe. Not only do I think it extremely unlikely that a TSA official would try to do this or want to do this, I think it would be nearly impossible to do unless you removed your pants. Like your fake crying, this smacks of a stunt to me. Also, there is no 4th ammendment right when you're flying - it's not a criminal search. These are some of the things we need to put up with when flying, in order to reduce the chances of a terrorist blowing up a plane and killing a few hundred people. Would you prefer that to the searches? Take you're Tea Party hysteria and use Amtrak next time.

Chad, if you read Bruce Schneier, you'll learn that what we have is "security theater" -- a show of having security as opposed to actual security. In Dallas, a TSA tester got through five times with a gun.

She stuck her hand up between my labia through my pants.

I don't have any history of lying, and I gave her name. You can choose to not believe me if you will.

And yes, I would prefer to take my chances rather than have our rights eroded even further.

Take you're Tea Party hysteria and use Amtrak next time.

You've shown your true colors (with the attempt to pigeonhole me). I'm neither a Democrat nor a Republican, and the government has no right to search me without probable cause simply because I take a plane to get to a business engagement across the country.

Also, it's "your." It's always a laugh when somebody is trying to attack you with some remark and can't quite manage where the apostrophe goes.

Airport security, or sexual molestation? Because maybe they aren't necessarily the same.

This could be an isolated incident; one seriously sick woman taking advantage of 9/11, who could possibly be fired and charged if this could be proven.

9/11 could have been a heck of a lot worse. What if they had hijacked a dozen jumbo jets? or 2 dozen, and they were all strategically timed?
One into capital hill while in session, wiping out all senators and congress, one into the white house taking both the president and vp, and all white house staff. a bunch all over wall street, seriously destroying the financial system, flying into the hoover fbi building, langley cia, key areas of the pentagon..it could be anarchy

Then again, is security really what this is all about? If this is all just "security theatre", then this must be about something more sinister, like taking away more civil liberties, giving more and more control to the government.

But if taking a plane requires a pat down of that nature, then I'm going to only be taking trains from now on...

JET
at June 7, 2011 7:32 PM

i hear a lot about: if you are not comfortable with these pat-downs, don't fly
you can turn this statement around and screw all security and say: if you are too scared, because there could be a bomb on the plane, don't fly...

and it's a simple overuse of power...it happens in police pat-downs a hell of a lot...

and asking for a name: do you really think you will get the name. in germany was a guy beat down by police, coz he asked for the guys name.
you can't defend your rights, if they are on the longer lever

nuit
at June 27, 2011 9:38 AM

Basically, I felt it important to make a spectacle of what they are doing to us, to make it uncomfortable for them to violate us and our rights, so I let the tears come. In fact, I sobbed my guts out. Loudly. Very loudly. The entire time the woman was searching me.

A real Rosa Parks.........

So this person, who it's clear by viewing her blog is a far-right libertarian was basically engaging in a childish stunt and trying to make a scene to start with. Some 'gotcha' action to suit a personal agenda. If she was in fact violated in such a severe way, then she should take it to court, oh but that's right...her lawyer says there's no case for some reason......

*obnoxious*

Happy Traveler
at June 27, 2011 10:09 AM

A while back there was a comparison of the TSA to Nazi Germany. The commented was shicked, as if nothing the TSA does is deserving of THAT kind of comparison. Well.. do you think the Nazis just woke up one day and started slaughtering Jews? No, it was a long propaganda attack followed by the gradual erosion of their rights and freedoms until everyone (Nazis, not "everyone") was comfortable treating them as less than human.

The flying public is nothing but cattle to the TSA because the cattle have no teeth. They can grope us, poke us, steal our water, take naked pictures of us, fondle our children and do basically anything else they want. If we don't submit, we don't get on the flight. Meanwhile, the terrorist who's studied the system sneaks on with all the components he needs to assemble a zip gun from stuff in his carry on luggage. Every single TSA agent (and most of the population) is incapable of spotting the real threat so they focus on security theatre instead.

Someone got rich building backscatter scanners, employing and training the legions on TSA agents (most of which are unqualified to even work at McDonalds). It's not about abuse, but the abuse makes it easier to employ more and more invasive technologies and practices that generate $ for someone. Follow the money.

Tim
at June 27, 2011 11:04 AM

DON'T FLY!

I'm on vacation right now and we decided to drive 1000 miles so we could avoid the indignity and violation of our rights.

These people who authorize and conduct these criminal and immoral violations are rapists and pedophiles.

drive_dont_fly
at June 27, 2011 11:22 AM

Obamacare and gun rights?

How has your life been changed for the worse by "Obamacare"? I haven't noticed any change in my life, for better or worse. Where are those "death panels" I keep hearing about?

And I once knew a guy who had his guns taken away by the authorities-- he was a drunk and would regularly shoot them off in city limits when he was wasted. The cops took them away and took away his permit when he shot his father's car full of buckshot. Lesson: if they are taking away your guns it's probably because you are not a responsible adult, you know, the same way they take away your driver's license when you get in a DUI accident.

some guy
at June 27, 2011 12:16 PM

I would love not to have to fly, but certain trips, like going to Europe or Asia cannot be done except by flying. This makes it impossible to avoid the TSA goons. This is a restriction on our freedom to travel.
It is NOT effective against terrorism unless Ground Crew are also searched EVERY time they approach to service EVERY airplane EVERY day! Yes, they are background checked, but anyone can change their mind/be coerced to do something horrible at any time! Until Ground Crew are searched EXACTLY the same way as passengers, then these TSA gropings/naked scans are USELESS!

kalika
at June 27, 2011 12:27 PM

Ralph, I travel a LOT on business and for pleasure and have seen some pretty nasty, overdone "pat downs" on the part of the TSA.

I always refuse the scanner and have my balls cupped none-too-gently and do not have a hard time believing that some folks get this kind of treatment.

I'm surprised that you can - have you been living under a rock? Do you never travel?

Bob Ittermann
at June 27, 2011 2:20 PM

I've flown a lot this year, to europe, to the middle east, to the US.

Only the US treats me like a criminal. Hence, my last trip there is this fall, and I'm done. I can't cancel it. I'll save my travel business to countries that don't grope, from here on out.

And I'll feel just perfectly safe. The TSA measures are laughable, and useless and do not make me feel ANY safer.

I've recieved the scans, the enhanced patdowns. I will simply fly to non US destinations.

The people who think we should roll over and take this, because we're told, are frankly delusional. You want a thumb up your ass for safety, thanks for being one of those guys who sells out everyone else.

nico
at June 27, 2011 2:27 PM

Why did you let them? Why didn't you stop, say no, then leave?

Mimsy Swallows
at June 27, 2011 2:30 PM

Further question: So what happens if you slap the person's face and physically remove their hands from your body?

Mimsy Swallows
at June 27, 2011 2:34 PM

I don't CONSENT to the search but I had to cooperate while they were doing it, as I needed to go to an evolutionary psych conference on the other side of the country for my work. It was my chance to interview two anthropologists -- one from England and one who's retired and doesn't get out much -- that I would otherwise probably not get to see or speak to. Hitchhiking or taking a bus weren't options, and for me, a tiring distance to drive is from Santa Monica to Hollywood.

So what happens if you slap the person's face and physically remove their hands from your body?

If that person is in the TSA, you probably get arrested forthwith. Otherwise, it's considered self-defense against sexual assault.

This is disgusting. I'm glad I'm Australian! Our airport security is good, and we don't have to put up with people's hands between our labia in order to fly for business within our own country. Do you still call yourselves "the land of the free"? To me this seems extremely fascist and not democratic.

I find it bad advertising, Tamara. We're the land of the increasingly unfree and unappreciative of the rights we've had. I've always found Australians to be pretty sensible, generally speaking. Glad that doesn't seem to have changed.

How do we know what Amy posts is true?
Here are the only "facts" I can glean: 31March UAL flight from LA to Binghamton, NY.
She leaves out: time, flight number, airport, and "forgets" the TSA's name.
She is a professional writer. Is it just possible this little tale of TSA terror is a fabrication?

"Ralph Piekarski" thus accused Ms Alkon of being a liar due to her not providing these details. Ms. Alkon then provided all of these details, and more. Mr. Piekarski did not acknowledge that, moved the goalposts, blustered some more, and disappeared. Gee, I'm having trouble deciding which of the two is more credible.

Tracy
at June 29, 2011 1:27 AM

By the way, I'm quite confident that the name would be "Thedala Magee".

Tracy
at June 29, 2011 2:16 AM

How the HECK is it "standard procedure" for a TSA agent to feel you up UNDER your clothes? That's not SOP in any way shape or form.

I haven't flown since prior to these idiotic "enhanced patdowns" and nudie-machines went into effect, and I have to fly twice next month. Frankly, I'm anxious about it, and even though they are cross country trips, I'm seriously considering driving instead, even though it would require more (non-paid) days off from work.

dok9874
at June 29, 2011 5:54 AM

It now seems is you are Nigerian you can not only fly, you can fly for free.

I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT AGAIN!!! I don't know how those right-wing fools elected him!!!!!! I blame the UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, The Blackwater of the Obamas!!!!

Carl Z.
at July 6, 2011 8:07 AM

TSA workers Aida Torrent #261789 sexually assaulted my 9yo daughter and I on July 24th. I attempted to file a sexual assault complain to the Denver police and they told me they could not help me or my daughter.
My complaints to the TSA and all my government representatives resulted in a big fat zero (at least the TSA responded with a BS form letter stating they 'did everything correctly').
Thank you for standing up for our rights.
Let every citizen do the same.
I'm not backing down either and hold my reps accountable.

Katharine-Anne Chestnut
at September 6, 2011 2:27 PM

On the name/race issue -
An above commenter thought your nonrecognition of either Thedala or Magee as specifically first or last names showed latent racism... well, calling a good Scottish name like Magee "not a typical American... name" certainly proves that you... um... are ... uh, anti-Celt? How dare you.

Also, thanks for speaking up with your story.

rosepug
at September 6, 2011 3:05 PM

I read about your experience and I am outraged at not only your treatment but the absurdity of the woman who assaulted you to try and sue you. The people are behind and beside you on this. I for one have taken to photographing all tsa agents.. something they hate but cannot stop. This is a complete assault on the dignity of all Americans. Bravo for putting up this blog.

best regards,
dr. harry kloor

harry kloor
at September 6, 2011 3:24 PM

Why not just hunt them down and kill them? Vigilante justice is still justice. It's clear they're violating peoples' Constitutional rights by raping them, and if the police and justices refuse to do anything why not just fix the problem ourselves. Personally if I was raped or any of my family I'd shoot dead the person who did it.

I doubt many people will do this, since rather than a free and brave nation it's mostly just a nation of cowards. But I often am pretty suicidal so rather than just kill myself I'd prefer to take out a bunch of bad people too, and make a point about justice and freedom. It only takes a small, concerned group of citizens to make a big difference!

The supposed threat that TSA is "protecting" us from became impossible before 9/11 was even over, and Flight 93 proved it. Anyone who finds TSA's activities the slightest bit reassuring ought to lose the right to vote for being a moron.

I have not flown since 9/11, and it's entirely because of the Keystone Gestapo, *not* terrorism (or I should say, *not* terrorism other than that being practiced by our own government). The only thing TSA could do that would make us all safer would be to disband.

Better yet, take all the metal detectors with you and allow people with carry permits from their home states to fly armed. It's ludicrous that four punks with razor-blade knives were ever capable of scaring 300 people in the first place.

John David Galt
at September 6, 2011 3:57 PM

I'm HORRIFIED by your experience. Your rights were violated and I'm glad you had posted your experience to make the rest of the public aware. I do hope that this agent AND TSA get what they deserve. Jail time. No one deserves this treatment.

TSA is nothing but an organization of thugs sanctioned by the government. I'm shocked by your experience but even more shocked by people who still believe that TSA is "protecting" Americans.

Am Real
at September 6, 2011 4:36 PM

The Obama regime, including T&A, are a collection of terrorists, radicals, and statists with many only "doing their job" like good Nazi's do. As an attorney, I thoroughly enjoyed the letter your attorney Mr. Randazza, Esq. wrote on your behalf regarding the sexual battery (digital penetration) inflicted upon you without your consent. It was an EXCELLENT read. You should frame it and know you are a PATRIOT and a HERO for standing up to these thugs.

Good for you. I wish that more Americans would stand up for themselves when their rights are violated in this manner!

Dr. Gronch
at September 6, 2011 5:35 PM

I am sorry for what happened to you, Amy.

I don't know why people would automatically doubt you... given the history the TSA has of violating travelers (or executing them, as in the case of Carol Anne Gotbaum) I tend to side with the victim until there is proof to the contrary. It would be like doubting a person's report of being violated by a known serial rapist when the victim can prove she was subjected to him. I'll take her word.

I won't fly anymore because of the TSA. I've never been afraid of terrorists, before or after 9/11, as the odds of being on a plane with them are somewhere in the neighborhood of winning the lotto, but the odds of the TSA violating me approach 1. The cure is far worse than the disease.

The TSA should be disbanded and most of the goons who worked there should be charged immediately. I don't care that they were following directives of their superiors in good faith. Any reasonable and lawful human being would quit if told that their job was to molest people for a living. Those that didn't should face prosecution the same as anyone off the street would if he did the same thing to random people.

Asc
at September 6, 2011 5:44 PM

I'm reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". Fascinating book and I highly recommend anyone who has the patience to read a 900+ page book that after section book 5 begins and you get past all the preliminary history, you will see how we've been following the same patterns as a country that Germany did.

It's a strong warning that we should keep in mind. First it starts with simple easy things like searches in the name of security. Eventually it get's bigger and bigger. Before you know it, you no longer are looking for the bad guys. You ARE the bad guys.

I was amazed to learn that Germany was a Democracy before Hitler took power. Very interesting how that worked out.

I agree 100% with you. Don't get comfortable with this sort of nonsense. Complain every time and loudly!

I'm sorry you went through that experience. I haven't had them fondle me (yet) but I expect someday they will.

And when it happens I will be blogging about it and telling everyone as loudly as I did when Concast (Comcast Corp) pulled crap on my family in 2007. (I still talk about it even today ::grinz::)

It is our responsibility as Americans to stand up and fight against these violations. As a frequent flyer, I have been in tears more than once over being abused by the TSA. We now have a choice when flying out of many airports between being exposed to dangerous radiation standing in the porn machines or being physically violated by people we don't want touching our bodies. Even surrendering your rights and going through the radiation porn machine doesn't guarantee you won't still be physically violated anyway since their processes are all random and secondaries can be called for any or no reason. I don't understand why every American isn't SCREAMING about this issue. Please, everyone, I urge you to bring this up over and over to anyone who will listen and to help make sure it is a big point of discussion in the next presidential election. With DHS in the Executive branch and TSA flipping the bird to Congress, I believe our biggest hope is to get a president in office who will put an end to these abuses and violations. This must stop!!!

Stacy Kleinman
at September 6, 2011 8:10 PM

They need to disband the TSA! Looks like Magee is looking to hit the lawsuit lottery! If this TSA agent is so discombobulated maybe she should retire o disability. Ignore the lawyer letter, I'm sure the TSA won't want this litigated. They probably have video of the entire incident. Good luck dealing with this pest.

To me, sexual assault is sexual assault, regardless of the circumstances. Just because someone is wearing a uniform or operating "in accordance with regulations and instructions" doesn't mean they can't or haven't acted in a malicious or abusive manner. Here are four terms to remember:

Nonfeasence: Not doing the job at all.
Misfeasence: Doing a job poorly due to lack of effort, skill, or understanding.
Malfeasence: wrongful or illegal act, esp by a public official.
Malice: The intent, without just cause or reason, to commit a wrongful act that will result in harm to another.

Who is the best judge of this? You are.

Based upon your description of events, it sounds to me like the screener acted in a malicious manner, and did indeed commit sexual assault.
I'd recommend talking to your local prosecutor and the FBI and see if this is anything they would touch.

I am working through the National Association of Airline Passengers (right2fly.net) to change state law to require all screeners to be licensed, bonded, and insured through the state board of professional regulation and to require civilian review boards at each airport to hear license complaints against screeners for abusive or infamous conduct. (Membership is free) Your dentist can lose his license if he sexually assaults you, why shouldn't a TSA agent?

To me, sexual assault is sexual assault, regardless of the circumstances. Just because someone is wearing a uniform or operating "in accordance with regulations and instructions" doesn't mean they can't or haven't acted in a malicious or abusive manner. Here are four terms to remember:

Nonfeasence: Not doing the job at all.
Misfeasence: Doing a job poorly due to lack of effort, skill, or understanding.
Malfeasence: wrongful or illegal act, esp by a public official.
Malice: The intent, without just cause or reason, to commit a wrongful act that will result in harm to another.

Who is the best judge of this? You are.

Based upon your description of events, it sounds to me like the screener acted in a malicious manner, and did indeed commit sexual assault.
I'd recommend talking to your local prosecutor and the FBI and see if this is anything they would touch.

I am working through the National Association of Airline Passengers (right2fly.net) to change state law to require all screeners to be licensed, bonded, and insured through the state board of professional regulation and to require civilian review boards at each airport to hear license complaints against screeners for abusive or infamous conduct. (Membership is free) Your dentist can lose his license if he sexually assaults you, why shouldn't a TSA agent?

Good going Amy. We may have little choice in being forced to choose travel over dignity, but we do not have to take it quietly.

BTW, you seem to have more balls than most men. Apparently, they were not injured during the assault.

Craig
at September 6, 2011 8:58 PM

this is not the "land of the free"

not even close

people need to figure out if that's what they want

uibyi
at September 6, 2011 9:00 PM

The only thing left to do is make g0oign to work a feared thing. I suggest waiting at the employee entrance following your special pig home and then burning their house down. It's only fair, these thugs are our enemy, they need to be treated as such. They're not trained properly they're burger flippers with a cheap uniform and probably a past history of mental illness. most seem histrionic and assholic. Most of them have criminal records and are not employable elsewhere, such as child molesters. Obama is ana evil monster, this once great country known as land of the free is DEAD, so it's time to show them the mercy and tolerance they have shown us, the completely blameless and innocent. The day is coming. Not a threat, just an inevitability.

Withheld
at September 6, 2011 9:18 PM

I am so sorry this happened to you, and I am so proud of you for speaking out about it. It's the only way ordinary people who disagree with this system are going to get it changed.

I would say to any lawyer who said this was a no go, 'why is that? it is a direct violation of the supreme law of the land, the Constitution! Any law, act statute or regulation that is in conflict with the Constitution is null and void. The same goes with any court ruling. There is no authority for the court to interpret the Constitution mentioned in the Constitution.' I hope the TSA is dismantled and those who obeyed those rules and regulations punished.

Hu
at September 6, 2011 10:53 PM

Nice going Amy. We're all with you! We will have victory again these Nazis, but we all have to stand up, and resist. Resistance is Victory!

US Criminal Code, Title 18, Section 241 & 242 make it a felony to use, or conspire to use color of law (rules and regulations of a corporation)to violate a persons rights. This does not preclude the right to travel, and maybe Amy should file criminal charges against the TSA agent for commiting a federal crime.
UCC 1-207 All rights reserved.

Eric
at September 7, 2011 12:03 AM

I routinely ignore the TSA's guidelines, and leave normal things in my carry-on. For example, razors and large pointed scissors. Not once have I been pulled over for it. They don't catch anything, and instead, serve to violate our rights. Keep yelling, and loudly.

angeleyes
at September 7, 2011 12:26 AM

I refuse to fly but my friend flies frequently and she recently had a horribly experience. She was wearing a pad and was taken into a room and questioned about the pad she was wearing and told to remove it so she could be more thoroughly groped by the TSA goons. She was in tears. But she is still flying and permitting the assaults.

karen
at September 7, 2011 1:08 AM

You're a real 911-hero in my book. But be sure to have a Happy September Fools Day!

geo W shrub, USArmy (dodged)
at September 7, 2011 2:00 AM

This is why I am an expat. I haven't seen my family in the states in years for this very reason. I will NOT submit my daughters or wife to this sexual abuse. You are very brave.

Stand your ground. Don't give up.

Chuck
at September 7, 2011 3:18 AM

People need to wake up. Especially the naysayers. Read these lists. People are being assaulted and abused at airports all over the country, every day. Why are so many Americans putting up with this??

There is evidently some misconception regarding who is actually doing the 'rape' vs. who is ordering it, and why.

While you were intruded upon by the TSA, they are only 'following orders' no differently than the Third Reich's henchmen followed orders. However, at Nuremberg, the foot-soldiers who did all the killing (and dying) were only starved out in the concentration camps by Eisenhower. There were no legal charges brought against them, even though, they did much of the killing (and dying) in the killing fields of Europe. The victor's justice primarily ensured that those who ordered the "supreme international crime" were hanged, creating an international precedent for victor's justice. Some argue that there is no reason to prepend "victor's" before it. I do it only to imply the impracticality of administering justice unless one is a victor and wields the upper hand, and the hypocrisy of it, namely, that only the losers are hung by artfully crafting the definition of how crime is defined such that the victors crimes are not considered crimes, only self-defence and collateral damage of war.

The Airport intrusive patdowns cannot be understood in isolation from the two parallel contexts of "imperial mobilization" and "police state" which cradle that act. The pat-downs are merely obedience training for the American public.

Remember, TSA is authorized by the Homeland Security, which in turn is authorized by the US Government, to subject its denizens to this – TSA is not doing it on their own. It isn't clear to me whether deliberately inducing emotional traumas, which to the victims do appear rape-like, among the passengers, especially women, is part of the unwritten coercion policy of the Government to get objecting peoples to accept the body-scan! It just seems extraordinary to me that without tacit support, and directives from higher-ups, that anyone in their right mind would do such molestation in such a public place with everyone watching.

If you wish to understand how the various pieces fit together, you may find my report pertinent:

Your story is chilling. I only just read about your case, I support you entirely! I can only hope that Vicki Roberts, Thedala Magee's attorney, will go down in flames (figuratively, of course) for her suit against you. Magee is protected... so she boldly attempts to defame and get money. Wimp, coward and cruel to boot. I can only hope she gets listed in the Sexual Predator database at some point for what she has done.

"The Airport intrusive patdowns cannot be understood in isolation from the two parallel contexts of "imperial mobilization" and "police state" which cradle that act. The pat-downs are merely obedience training for the American public."

Precisely. Some of us have been saying this till we're blue in the face, though the sheeple still don't get it.

Re orders from on high: as the saying goes, a fish rots from the head. And the head of this stinking carcass is John Pistole (and his clueless boss, Janet Napolitano). He is one sick, twisted creature. Read up on his religious zeal, his sense of "mission," to get some insight on why he's doing this to us.

As for why so many people are blindly going along with it -- well, sadly, all too predictable. Most people don't have Amy's guts, or the courage of their purported convictions.

Perverted TSA, yet another violation of our rights. Add it to the list of gov’t violations of our rights:
They violate the 1st Amendment by placing protesters in cages, banning books like “America Deceived II” and censoring the internet.
They violate the 2nd Amendment by confiscating guns.
They violate the 4th and 5th Amendment by molesting airline passengers.
They violate the entire Constitution by starting undeclared wars for foreign countries.
Impeach Obama, vote for Ron Paul.
(Last link of Banned Book):http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000190526

Jack M
at September 7, 2011 6:30 AM

Amy,

I just heard about this. If there is anything I can do let me know. My e-mail is on the sidebar at:

I'm sorry if this really happened to you, but I have to stand with the skeptics here on this one for the following reason:

You state that you went into this patdown after already having an hysterical crying fit over TSA security while in the security line. Seriously?

Whether or not you like the TSA or feel passionately about our rights, crying about it in the security line is way over the top. It makes you sound like a drama queen (and your blog photo in the gown kind of helps that image). Drama queens want attention above all else. You were already looking for a reason to get outraged if you were making a scene in the security line with your hysterics.

Given your penchant for hysteria, and the fact that you were already, by your own admission, sobbing uncontrollably even before the patdown occurred, it's likely that you were so wrought up that you overreacted to what really happened.

I can imagine that she did a quick patdown on the inside of your thighs and maybe her hand hit the bottom of your crotch in the process. But actually parting your labia and doing a full-on vaginal insertion? 4 times? I know how quickly they do these patdowns, that would take some effort through pants and underwear.

And to follow up on a questioner above: You seriously yelled rape and they still let you fly after that? That strains credulity.

I agree with the commenter above that the more appropriate response to this would be to educate, petition and work to change the laws. Targeting the woman who did the patdown on your blog is not cool. She may have just considered what she did doing her job, and perhaps she didn't like it any better than you did.

You honestly do a disservice to the real TSA issues with this drama and hysteria.

jetson jane
at September 7, 2011 8:30 AM

"She may have just considered what she did doing her job, and perhaps she didn't like it any better than you did"

Got that, Amy? She was just doing her job. She didn't like it any more than you did. She wasn't there, but she will take some organization's (with a history of violating peoples rights DAILY) word over yours.

Jane over here would have been one of the many lobotomized fools to have happily completed shock treatments to another test participant - (at fatal levels) during the Milgram Experiment because someone "told them too".

These people scare the bloody shit out of me. Stupid people scare me more than the government sometimes. Useful idiots.

Spooky that these people exist. Spooky, spooky stuff.

Feebie
at September 7, 2011 8:40 AM

These types of pat downs are designed to humiliate the American public. This is a way for the government to control people by sexually assaulting people through invasive pat downs, eventually people begin to submit. Men are humiliated as they watch their children and wives be subjected to sexual assault. Men stop being the protector of the family, now only the government can protect you and your family.

In other environments such as prisons or on the streets with pimps women or men are repeatedly raped until they finally stop caring anymore and just do as they are told. This is a way for the government to say look what I can do to you and there is nothing you can do to stop me. I hear our politicians complain about it but they don't do anything to stop it, we elected them didn't we?

David
at September 7, 2011 8:45 AM

@Feebie: "These people scare the bloody shit out of me. Stupid people scare me more than the government sometimes. Useful idiots."

I'm not stupid. In fact, I'll wager that my IQ is higher than yours (you know, I was one of those geeky straight-A student types). And I don't trust the government and I am definitely open to conspiracy theories, so don't label me a mindless sheeple either.

But I can also spot a drama queen, and given this blogger's mental state at the time of the "rape" and her obvious desire for attention I simply don't trust her side of the story. I've had female friends like this - they overstate *everything.* They take one tiny thing and blow it up all out of proportion so that their story is not even close to what really happened.

As for the worker in question, yes, she may have been just doing her job. Maybe she didn't know she was overdoing it (presuming the story was correct). Maybe she was trained to do it that way. In any case, TARGETING HER SPECIFICALLY was wrong.

Target the system, fine. But publicly lambasting this worker was "two wrongs don't make a right" for one, and stupid for the other, because now this blogger has a lawsuit on her hands.

And yes, I think it hurts the anti-TSA movement, because normal people read this stuff and roll their eyes at it. She probably lost a lot of regular folks with her "sobbing" at the security line tale of woe. Think strategically, not emotionally, folks.

jetson jane
at September 7, 2011 9:02 AM

PS I want to clarify - I am a woman, so my comments about drama queen females comes from the female perspective.

jetson jane
at September 7, 2011 9:04 AM

Way to fight them, Ms. Alkon. These Neocon warmongers used lies and terror to turn us into this Orwellian society, now they whimper and cry because you dare to have an emotional response to their opportunism regarding 9-11 hysteria?

Remember the sainted Laura Logan, the journalist whose "rape by hands" became an international incident used to defame the entire "Arab Spring"?

Why was Laura Logan an instant "cause celebre" and you get reviled as liar? I am so proud of you. Keep us posted. I'm not rich, but I will gladly donate my "widow's mite" to your legal defense fund. I have two daughters who will never see Disneyworld until this crap STOPS.

pj
at September 7, 2011 9:04 AM

Working to help up the perv's google juice as a rapist and sexual deviant.

Google the name "Sommer Gentry." She's a Math Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. She has written numerous times all over the web about her sexual assault at the hands of the TSA. She's only one of thousands. But I guess she's just another "drama queen."

"PS I want to clarify - I am a woman, so my comments about drama queen females comes from the female perspective."

So, in other words, you would like us to afford you some special privilege here because you're a woman (*wink wink*)? Like you have the inside scoop and everyone else (or men) cannot challenge your statement because, you, in fact, are a woman?

(Weird, but moving on....)

Not terribly impressed by people who need to vocalize their (purported) incredibly high IQ's in the first place, and even less impressed when they use their sex as a privilege to base an argument off of - giving them a (seemingly) unfair advantage. But what it really tells me is they have no argument, and are of questionable reasoning skills. They don't think for themselves either. It kinda telepaths to me (along with the rest of your post) the "I was just doing my job. I was just taking orders. I can't be held responsible" mentality of a TSA agent.

AND, you are misusing anecdotal evidence to argue a point! Bahhhh! It's inappropriate to the context.

There are the facts of Amy's case that can't be sidestepped no matter how hard you will it. Nor can they be diminished because of whatever weirdness goes on when you select your friends or people you choose to be around - Drama Queens or whomever. We don't care.

The fact that this Magee woman fingered Amy in a sexually inappropriate way does not get to be subjected to your warped perspective, in order for you to diminish her credibility as a victim here! Especially since we don't exactly know how you choose to live your life or who you choose to surround yourself with.

It's an incredibly self centered approach to come on here, quiet down the bar room, and tell everyone "how it is" - or rather, how Jane sees it and then question Amy's credibility. Quite frankly, if you were standing in front of me I wouldn't have the patience to explain this all to you and I'd rather just say "go fuck yourself" but whatever, I am feeling overprotective today. Tomorrow might be different.

Yet, all this is completely in line with my earlier assessment of your posts.People like you scare me.

Thedala Magee is a rapist. I just wanted to make sure she knew that. I was very happy to read in the letter from Magee's lawyer that Magee is emotionally distraught over the fact that she raped innocent women and children in the course of her "work" as a TSA rapist. Did I mention yet, that Thedala Magee is a rapist? Because she is. Thedala Magee is a rapist. I believe Amy Alkon's story, because another TSA rapist raped me at BWI. Shut down the TSA rape machine!

But I can also spot a drama queen, and given this blogger's mental state at the time of the "rape" and her obvious desire for attention

This isn't the only time I've been groped in an airport, but the only time I responded as I did -- screaming "You raped me," which I did not because I'm a "drama queen," but because she jammed the side of her hand INTO my vagina four times.

Contrast that with the patdown from the New Orleans TSA woman: she touched me in a way I consider a violation of my Fourth Amendment rights, but she did what she was allowed to do by the government. She didn’t punish me for sobbing, which I was there, too, by giving me a little something extra down below. So, while I think she’s wrong to be earning a living violating our 4th amendment rights, she truly was “just following orders.”

Once you go beyond following orders to do what Magee Thedala did to me, you are no longer under government immunity for your behavior.

What shocks me is how few women cry as this is done to them, because this is a terrible, terrible thing, the government stripping us of our dignity, our bodily integrity (the right to not be touched if you don't want to be unless you are reasonably suspected of a crime), and our Constitutional rights. This is a tragedy that this is being allowed, and more people should be sobbing.

TSA - Thugs who Sexually Assault - just as there is a God in Heaven, their day of reconing will come. The sooner the better.

rg
at September 7, 2011 10:51 AM

Last time I got groped I asked the guy if it was as good for him as it was for me then I got all this crap about whether I wanted to give him a reason to search my bags, etc. I didn't get the guy's number because I didn't feel like being detained to have my bags searched and having the possible strip search. But this happened at the Philadelphia International Airport.

Harlan Sanders
at September 7, 2011 12:15 PM

Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who has repeatedly denounced the TSA and called for this to end.

Lets give credit where credit is due. President Obama has certainly not done a darn thing. GW Bush nationalized the TSA.

Ron Paul has said, abolish the TSA, leave airline security to airlines, allow the airlines to have their own ways of identifying their passengers. He has said that safety must be a responsibility of the company providing the service, as a matter of legal principle.

Ron Paul has said, X-rays and pat downs for everyone is a violation of the 4th and without cause. It is both unreasonable, and unwarranted. He has said, there are better ways for airlines to know their customers and provide safety for their service.

Muslims and Muslim Americans may be reasonably profiled, but never denied service without cause. Meanwhile, making all of us go through this is just plain wrong.

Treg4RonPaul
at September 7, 2011 12:19 PM

It sure looks like the DHS circulated this blog throughout their propaganda division in a call-to-arms. Some of the statements in here from the first-time commenters are coming from so far out in left field there is no way they come from rational, reasonable Americans.

An aptly named Patriot Act would abolish the TSA, DHS and FEMA.

While what Amy went through is an atrocity and a crime, she is a true patriot for bringing her experience to the attention of the masses. And kudos to the lawyer taking up her case.

One question, Amy. Do the email addresses from these first-timers look legit or made up?

Brian
at September 7, 2011 12:28 PM

People we are fully aware of the troubling times we are in. We see our liberty disappearing in front of us. The violations of the Constitution is clear and all in the name of safety. The question who is going to save us from our saviors?

Now we are at a time where we must support the one's who will benefit us the most. Someone who has the consistent voting record in Politics. That someone is Ron Paul who warned us about the financial system, who is anti-war, anti-taxes, and smaller government. Even if you don't agree on everything he says, he will benefit us greatly in the finance, anti-war, and freedom areas.

We have a chance to end these unconstitutional laws and wars, let us vote for Ron Paul.

Chris Smith
at September 7, 2011 1:17 PM

Texas almost passed a law clarifying that sexual assault performed by a government agent is still sexual assault. Unfortunately, they wimped out and caved when the TSA threatened them.

Seth
at September 7, 2011 1:52 PM

Amy,

Would you show up for work, if you knew you would be raped there? No--of course not. The only thing you can do to help end these Third Reich-like atrocities is to change your job and not fly. That is what we all must do. As with everything involving the evils of the state, political processes and the "justice system" (law industry) are useless. It's sad that most people still believe these statist devices are useful (voting, police, political action, etc.) but things will only continue to get worse until people quit participating in the programs that create and foster the tyranny of the state, and this includes politics and the industries controlled by the state.

I was an airline pilot on 9/11. I've quit the business and have not flown commercially in over 6 years. I refuse to fly in my new job. I refuse to fly for "pleasure." If I can't walk, drive, fly myself, or swim there, I don't go!

I honestly wish you the best of luck with any of your ongoing political and legal efforts, however.

Calin Brabandt
at September 7, 2011 3:02 PM

Just FYI, and in case it's useful, this is from a friend:

In a case like this it helps to actually look at the law regarding rape. Since this happened at LAX the governing law would be the California Penal Code:

261. (a) Rape is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person not the spouse of the perpetrator, under any of the following circumstances:

(7) Where the act is accomplished against the victim's will by threatening to use the authority of a public official to incarcerate, arrest, or deport the victim or another, and the victim has a reasonable belief that the perpetrator is a public official. As used in this paragraph, "public official" means a person employed by a governmental agency who has the authority, as part of that position, to incarcerate, arrest, or deport another. The perpetrator does not actually have to be a public official.

However, what is the definition of sexual intercourse? Did Agent Magee's actions actually meet the standard? Once again, let us read the Penal Code:

263. The essential guilt of rape consists in the outrage to the person and feelings of the victim of the rape. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime.

Given that even part of Agent Magee's hand was inside Ms Alkon's vulva, the answer is obvious.

Who is suing who for "severe emotional distress, fear, difficulty in performing her duties, and other problems"? If you were a juror on this wouldn't you be begging Ms. Alkon to countersue?

That's not physically possible. When you talk about her putting her fingers/hand into your vagina, do you actually mean between your labia? There's no way someone can put the side of their hand into a vagina unless you're into fisting, and that couldn't be done without some extra time, relaxation, and lube.

If you've been using the word vagina throughout all of this, but you don't actually mean vagina, then you're ruining your own credibility.

Did the agent penetrate your vagina or not? Remember, the vagina is inside your body, not outside.

As the guy who copyedits me will tell you, I almost always want to go with what is popular usage. For example, here's one of the clarifications I put below a column (for editors getting it, so they won't "correct" me into sucking):

STYLE NOTE: In paragraph four of my answer, yes, I know, “drunken sex” is correct, but “drunk sex,” is better, more colloquial, and funnier. Please leave it as it is. Per Elmore Leonard in his “10 Rules of Writing,”: “If proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go.”

You do not need the permission of a civil lawyer to file criminal charges of rape. In fact, a civil lawyer is almost never allowed to tell a client to file criminal charges, because that is the crime of extortion, threatening criminal charges to gain advantage in a potential civil case.

If you want a lawyer to advise you how to handle a criminal prosecution, you must pay them to do that and never discuss a civil case (until after the arrest is made).

Any crime victim can file criminal charges against any other person in any jurisdiction.

Best way is to make an immediate citizen's arrest of the perpetrator caught in the act, then dial 911 and demand a sheriff deputy to pick up your prisoner for booking at the jail. Videotaping or audio recording the crime in action FOR LATER USE is extremely beneficial if official video/audio gets tampered with or destroyed.

If that opportunity is not an option:

Step 1: By telephone, file a police report for sexual assault identifying the criminal by name, location (include county name), date, time, witness names. This report is filed in the county where the crime occurred.

Step 2: Go in person to that county sheriff or metro police dept and pick up a copy of that police report.

Step 3: Prepare your own Affidavit of Probable Cause for Criminal Complaint naming the persons and events of the crime. Study the "essential elements" in that State's Pattern Jury Instructions for sexual assault, and include them in the complaint. Saying NO is extremely important or the sex act is "consentual". Not saying NO is the defense of entrapment. Mailing a letter by certified mail to the airline before departing denying permission to have sex with you would qualify as a NO.

Step 4: Take your Affidavit of PC to a magistrate judge (or whatever that state calls them) who signs arrest warrants in the jurisdiction of the crime. A prosecutor might be there to talk victims out of filing charges to protect guilty govt employees. Demand to testify in person. The judge will sign the arrest warrant and the rapist will be promtply arrested and booked into jail.

If the prosecutor obstructs justice and blocks your arrest warrant, you can take your affidavit of PC to any other judge in the county who handles criminal cases. Warning: 75% of judges in USA are not licensed lawyers and technically cannot handle criminal cases, and those "judges" will lie to your face about that. Pick a judge in a superior court who routinely handles felony jury trials. Ask the judge's clerk (not the court clerk) what day the judges handles routine motions, then appear in person on that day and wait your turn.

If the judges obstruct justice and refuse to sign an arrest warrant, you can present your case to the grand jury in the county of the crime. The court clerk must post the dates and locations of the grand jury sessions, and name the foreman of the grand jury.

If the grand jury obstructs justice, you can make a citizen's arrest of the rapist at any time before the statute of limitations expires. You can find the rapist's home address by online search for a few dollars.

You can also file a Freedom of Information Act Request for the personnel file of the rapist, which is supposed to redact the home address of the rapist. You should always do this yourself even if you hire a lawyer.

Example Affidavit of PC against a cop (TSA are private security guards not cops):
piratenews.org/newslinks.html

You don't have to be a clinician to use the correct terms. Using "vagina" when you mean "vulva" gives your story a completely different meaning. As a former copyeditor (current editor), I absolutely would not let your use of "vagina" fly, especially when you're accusing someone of rape. Accuracy is important, and when you use the wrong word like this, it casts doubt on everything you wrote.

So I'm guessing you're saying that the agent did not penetrate your vagina? You might want to clear that up so you don't get your case dismissed on the basis of false information.

I am very sorry about what happened to you, but you're doing yourself and women everywhere a disservice by repeating that her fingers were in your vagina when they weren't.

Bridget
at September 7, 2011 4:27 PM

Bridge, babe... chillax.

You are splitting hairs. Truly. It's desperate.

So I guess by your logic, if a rape victim is taken into a police station after a sexual assault and asked to describe the even in detail - hours later and she said: "...and then he jammed his hand into my vagina..." and this was recorded....and then later on, at trial, you would consider this trivial battle of semantics, and important piece of evidence to be used against the victim to IMPUGN their credibility?

Riiiight.

Feebie
at September 7, 2011 4:34 PM

I have no trouble believing Amy's account. I went through the full body scanner at the Indianapolis airport, then got pulled aside for a pat down. Security thought they saw something in my shirt pocket or on my torso, they patted down my "junk" thoroughly. I have no problem believing in overly invasive searches by the TSA.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2463906">comment from Bridget

You don't have to be a clinician to use the correct terms.

No, but you have to be a person who is rigid about what is correct -- to the exclusion of real language and how language is actually used by real people.

When I was in my early 20s, I was prissy about things being exactly correct, and I also was kind of an ass -- tossing around big words because I thought it made me look smart instead of what it surely did: make me look like an insecure ass.

When I have told anyone that she put her hand sideways into my vagina, there is not a person in the world who thought she was fisting me. They all knew I meant vagina like people say "pussy" -- to mean girl parts.

The same goes for "rape." There is not a person in the world who thought, when I yelled, "You raped me!" who wondered if she'd fisted me in an alley at gunpoint. She's a TSA worker, in the airport, in her "officer" uniform, who'd just walked away from groping me.

Again, see the "wall of vaginas."

You make me realize why my copy editor is so wonderful (besides the fact that he's a sweetheart of a guy and that he and his wife have a bunny named "Pig.") He is like a seer of grammar, but he also understands and is fine with me doing what I need to do to make my column read like it's written for the average person (so they get it, so they laugh) and not to celebrate the memory of Mr. Strunk and Mr. White.

Really. It's astonishing to me how someone can miss the big picture here. Arguing about the use of the word vagina....

Whatever.

(Yes, my grammar sucks too, Bridge...have at it!)

Feebie
at September 7, 2011 4:50 PM

Right after 911 my step-daughter flew back to school in Tampa Fl. She was a pretty 18 year old (still pretty, but now 28). She was fondled by a National Guard "boy" carrying a gun, who told her she "must" submit to his search. Her story was much like yours and she was in tears when she called me. I am still outraged over it and refuse to fly any longer. I will drive to Arizona and Nevada to see my kids and grandkids, realizing that the drive places me at a very high risk of getting killed, compared to air travel. Thank you for keeping this national crime out in the open to remind people. The job of government is NOT to keep us SAFE, but rather to keep us FREE. They are failing miserably at their real job and their oath of office. Scum bags!
Al

Al Sledge
at September 7, 2011 5:05 PM

Don't fight this by refusing to fly.

No one will notice that. No one will care. At least, not the people who are the cause of all this.

Nothing will beat a good and persistent public shaming, with clear accountability. Use politicians' obsession with public favour for your own benefit.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2464025">comment from Robyn

Thank you, Robyn for saying that. The answer isn't not flying but fighting for change.

Bureaucracy protects itself. There's a huge "security" industry that's grown up out of the linoleum at the airport, and it's not going to disappear because people drive 10 hours instead of taking a plane.

I sure wouldn't put children through this -- tell them all about "good touch and bad touch" and then tell them "except for government workers in blue uniforms." (Children are really great at nuance, we all know.)

I would just like to start by saying that I am truly sorry that you went through something so horrible. To claim these types of searches to be for the benefit of everyone is a violation itself. We are being searched with more scrutiny and more in depth by a TSA agent for doing nothing more than just trying to use an airline service than one would be when being arrested by a police officer. The thought of being searched like this really does make me prefer a 18 hour drive to a 2 hour flight.

Robert
at September 7, 2011 7:23 PM

What you went through was terrible but your use of the word "rape" is excessive regardless of your personal feelings. The word has a specific meaning, and when we begin to expand the meaning the word eventually becomes useless: like the word "liberal." There is a disturbing tendency in our society for people to overstate their case and use powerful language and inaccurate to make a point, like calling Fed policy "treason." This is intellectually lazy and simply speeds up the process of thought/language control in society. You were violated, harassed and fondled but not raped. Please don't make the mistake of believing this diminishes what happened to you because it does not, it merely states what happened to you in realistic terms.

GR
at September 7, 2011 9:02 PM

People should refuse to fly like I do. Rent a car (not at the airport!) and drive there. Tell the people it will take longer because you refuse to be treated like a criminal.

This is all because of two things. The motherfucking raghead Arab bugs, they need to be exterminated off the face of the earth. Before there were Arabs in America in significant numbers, there were no highjackings no bombings no terrorism. In the last 20 years as the infection of Islam stained the world our freedoms have been taken by an opportunistic government.

The motherfucking government pornographers are making money and jerking off over this. They cornered the kiddy porn market and now this is the next step. Fuck you fascists. Eat shit and die.

Fuck the fascists
at September 7, 2011 11:26 PM

People should refuse to fly like I do. Rent a car (not at the airport!) and drive there. Tell the people it will take longer because you refuse to be treated like a criminal.

This is all because of two things. The motherfucking raghead Arab bugs, they need to be exterminated off the face of the earth. Before there were Arabs in America in significant numbers, there were no highjackings no bombings no terrorism. In the last 20 years as the infection of Islam stained the world our freedoms have been taken by an opportunistic government.

The motherfucking government pornographers are making money and jerking off over this. They cornered the kiddy porn market and now this is the next step. Fuck you fascists. Eat shit and die.

Die Facists
at September 7, 2011 11:27 PM

Watching this from another part of the world that has observed the US since 9/11 it's evident (to me) that the process of privacy-invasion, humiliation and control is to determine how much a certain demographic will tolerate. The TSA like the police and other enforcement authorities are instructed (I believe) that they will go unpunished irrespective of what they do.

The reason for all this?

Preparation for what's coming up. A few more months maybe and we'll see if I'm right. Charles Frith Sept/2011

Google "Five Dancing Israelis". We are being raped in a lot more ways than by the TSA.

pj
at September 8, 2011 1:46 AM

This situation sucks out loud and does for many other people who have gone through similar situations. No doubt about that. But...as a female who was raped at the age of 16... You lost me screaming rape. You were violated and the agent crossed a line...but you weren't raped. Throwing that word around just to make your situation sound as horrific as you can does a disservice to those of us who have actually been there.

I also saw the report where the tsa agent is threatening to sue you. I will be curious to see how that all pans out. The fact you are a journalist who didn't even make a point of getting her name correct and could only describe her as overweight..like 250 pounds just seems crude but I wish you the best of luck.

And if you would like to scream at me..as I've seen you do with everyone else that hasn't immediately agreed with you...feel free.

Krg
at September 8, 2011 1:47 AM

In most cases I would agree about using words as they're commonly used, but I think when I comes to making an accusation of a serious crime (and rape is indeed a serious crime), it's better to be precise because of the gravity of the accusation.

Sam
at September 8, 2011 4:29 AM

Thank you for having the courage to speak out about how the female TSA pervert sexually assaulted you.

How many other women have had to endure these sexual assaults but have been too ashamed to speak up? You speak for the silent and terrified.

If this TSA woman had walked up to you in public and jammed her fingers up your genitals four times, you would have had her arrested and brought up on charges.

The arrogant TSA was created to conduct extralegal attacks on us and to undermine our sense of security. It is nothing more than a useless layer of bureaucracy that does absolutely nothing except undermine our nation.

It is high time we sort through the TSA personnel one by one and arrest every single one of these petty thugs who have raped people like you. We need to lock up these criminals for a long time. And it is time to obliterate the TSA and give enforcement back to the police.

Krg,
My deepest sympathies for what you went through.
I should like to point out, however, that it seems odd you invite Amy to "scream" at you, and state she has screamed at others here. I looked, and there are no all-capital comments, no bold, no italic (except to denote quoatation). She certainly has disagreed with some of us, but I see no evidence of screaming.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2465708">comment from Krg

And if you would like to scream at me..as I've seen you do with everyone else that hasn't immediately agreed with you...feel free.

People disagree with me all the time. If I couldn't handle it, I wouldn't have comments on my blog (sans registration or comments moderation). Even the biggest assholes here (BOTU -- short for Butthole Of The Universe) are free to spew.

Furthermore, if some guy comes up to you in an alley and sticks the side of his hand up your coochie four times, how would you characterize that? Please educate me, so I can learn to use the proper word for this activity.

Reading this post served to remind me of my own encounters with the TSA. Though not as intrusive, it was unpleasant. I don't really like flying, and with the TSA it is so unpleasant, that I simply won't fly unless I really have to. I spend most of my time with my business, but if I do take vacation I tend to stay close to home where I can drive. My wife wanted to fly to Texas this Thanksgiving to see here sister, but I'd rather have a nail driven through my foot...

The TSA are nothing but sadistic sexual predators. I routinely see them abusing old women in wheelchairs and little kids, which staying far the muslims that have stated clearly their intent to kill us all.

TSA is the largest purveyor of child kidde porn in the world, and every child predator knows it is the place to work.

Yea, lets all celebrate our freedom here - now we have to submit to be sexually assaulted in order to fly.

TSA are nothing but government NAzis.

Bill D
at September 8, 2011 11:51 AM

I travel all over the world and must admit that the many of the TSA are poorly trained as it is not necessary to inflict this sort of behaviour on innocent people. Most other airports (in other countries) manage these security checks quite well without this sort of thing. Furthermore 99.9% of travellers are innocent and probably the same goes for TSA staff.
What is worse (bearing in mind that the TSA came to being after 9/11 attacks) is that this means the terrorists have altered the way we live for the worse and so have in effect succeeded in inconveniencing us for the rest of time.
That inconvenience might seem acceptable to us if we are searched in a manner that is also respectable.
Great post

Its strange to see a prson who wrote a book about being rude (title line- that loud jerk in the drugstore que!) would then go and act in this manner- you are comming across as a self important, arrogant 'princess' in this blog post.

nice bit of shrouded racism there- 'and neither name sounds like a typical American first name or last name, so I can't remember if I wrote it down in the right order.'

what is a typical name in a country full of immigrants anyway?

Airport security is way over the top and especially in the USA, but then in a village run by the idiots what can you expect.....I dont see why you made such a fuss though, maybe you have nothing better to do? What exactly is wrong with someone touching you/going through a scanner anyway? You are lucky that you live in a period of history and in a corner of the world where you are not living in a hovel, a slave, subject to rape/murder at someones whim....the more you give to people the more they have to complain about. If the world was comming to an end and they were filling the space shuttle with useful people ask yourself a question- would you be invited on it?

Dont get me wrong I dont hate you, I dont even know you- this story came into my email account through 'web pro news' and I was researching today street harrasment, I thought it was something to do with that. But when I see a paradox like this- an apparently intellegent and successful woman acting like an idiot and then telling the world about it, I hope that there is something I can do to prevent my daugthers from growing up to be the same way. As you are an advice specialist, maybe you can advise me on how to prevent them from being like this?

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2466040">comment from James

ts strange to see a prson who wrote a book about being rude (title line- that loud jerk in the drugstore que!) would then go and act in this manner- you are comming across as a self important, arrogant 'princess' in this blog post.

To respond in terms of the manners/civility angle, it is absolutely NOT impolite to be uncivil when the occasion calls for it. In fact, it is the height of good conduct as a citizen to not go quietly and "politely” when our Constitutional rights are being yanked away from us.

nice bit of shrouded racism there- 'and neither name sounds like a typical American first name or last name, so I can't remember if I wrote it down in the right order.'

Again, as somebody else pointed out, if the TSA person's name was Maria Rodriguez, do you think I'd have trouble figuring out whether it was Rodriguez Maria or Maria Rodriguez?

What is wrong with going through the scanner is that Janet Napolitano seems to have lied when she said these scanners were tested to be safe. I think it was Johns Hopkins that was one of the institutions she said tested the scanners and pronounced them safe -- and they hopped right up and said, "Um, no, we didn't pronounced them safe."

Electronic privacy rights organization EPIC.org just posted something about how the scanners are not safe for use on humans!

And regarding "apparently intellegent and successful woman acting like an idiot" -- I would venture that the idiotic behavior would be letting our government take away our constitutional rights and not making so much as a peep about it.

I hope that there is something I can do to prevent my daugthers from growing up to be the same way.

My mother, who is not one to wildly toss around compliments told me she was proud of me the other day for what I've done.

I would only hope other people raise their daughters to understand how lucky we are to have a country backed by the US Constitution and Bill of rights, and to teach them to not act like "We the sheeple..." in the face of it being ripped up at the airport door or anywhere else.

This reminds me of this quote about the guillotining during the reign of terror:

"Madame Du Barry ... is the only woman, among all the women who perished in the dreadful days, who could not stand the sight of the scaffold. She screamed, she begged mercy of the horrible crowd that stood around the scaffold, she aroused them to such a point that the executioner grew anxious and hastened to complete his task. This convinced me that if the victims of these terrible times had not been so proud, had not met death with such courage, the Terror would have ended much earlier. Men of limited intelligence lack the imagination to be touched by inner suffering, and the populace is more easily stirred by pity than by admiration."

T
at September 8, 2011 5:13 PM

Amy,

I do thank you for your reply to my post but I am afraid my position still remains the same. I fail to see how someone who makes a living from giving advice on all subjects without experience in any of them, who makes a big scene in an airport and openly admitting that she was sobbing in fake distress (IE an actress) can be proud of her actions, and it puzzles me how you see this way of acting as some kind of crusade against government opression. To the outside world looking in (IE from a European perspective) it just looks like a stereotypical American who would make money sueing someone or blogging.

I am sure your mother is very proud of you, she would be prouder still perhaps if you took your problemsolving abilities to Palestine (no not in texas darling) or somewhere like that and made a difference. perhaps if you created world peace then you would not need to worry about being searched.

My daughters will grow up in a country not protected by a piece of paper but by the goodwill of the people who have lived without a constitution for 1000 years, and dont complain at a little frisking at the airport.....

may I sum this whole article up in 2 words?

'publicity stunt'

if I am wrong I look foward to hearing about your epic campaigns to your senator/congressman and how you were the driving force behind pushing through the supreme court ruling that airport searches are unconstitutional.....but I wont hold my breath......

James
at September 8, 2011 5:28 PM

>>I stopped flying because of this. I recommend >>you do the same.

Posted by: David Chapmen at September 8, 2011 10:32 AM:
>Absolutely not the answer. Our rights are being >violated, and it's not going to get better. The >more we let them be violated, the more they will >be violated, in many other venues.

Short of martyring yourself though physical resistance and self defense, how else can we not "let" our rights be violated, David? If you fly, your rights WILL be violated. I assure you that the "security" monster, created by the state, is growing rapidly and political processes cannot possibly overturn it. Compared to the money involved in the “keep us safe” scam (huge security agencies and expensive security hardware), our votes, letters, and phone calls mean nothing to politicians. The ONLY way to fix this problem is to refuse to fly! Airline, trade, and tourism revenue losses provide the only antidote to this evil disease.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2466208">comment from James

openly admitting that she was sobbing in fake distress

My distress at the way our Constitutional rights are being violated -- daily -- and into the millions of people -- is quite real, I assure you.

Again, the question is, why aren't more people sobbing about this? Do we need to wait for the police state transformation to be complete.

And Lobster's comeback to you is perfectly brilliant.

Your response here reflects that you either have not read and digested my words or you are such a Stepford citizen that it is incomprehensible (and even rude, in your eyes) that somebody would feel so passionately about their Constitutional rights that they would not go quietly as they are yanked away.

My book is about being considerate to others -- those who deserve your consideration. Would you likewise suggest your daughters be polite and docile and use "please" and "thank you" as some thug rapes them with a bottle in an alley?

Furthermore, it is only a naive ass who thinks writing a letter to their Congressman does much more than waste one's time and that of some aide in the Congressman's office. In my book, I mention the FOIA Act request by André-Tascha Lammé about the government's pursuit of the abusers of the "Do Not Call" list. Hardly any -- the most minute, minute fraction of them -- are every pursued by government. Likewise, if you are the victim of a crime on a local level, unless there is a bleeding body on your kitchen floor, you cannot expect the police to solve it -- or really even pay much attention to it.

Your naivete would be pathetic if it weren't so ugly and dangerous in elevating going like sheep with good manners and good citizenship.

I will say it again: This country was started by ASSHOLES. Assholes who gave the finger to the king and refused to be ruled by him. I respond in the great tradition of our Founding Assholes, for whom I have the greatest admiration.

I just want to say the lawyer you spoke to is clueless. I have spoken to a couple of friends who are attorneys here in New Hampshire and both say you have a very strong case for criminal charges to be brought. If the local police or prosecutor will not allow you to file the charges you can go from there and contact the state police and / or sheriff department to file charges. Which the county sheriff has higher jurisdiction then the state or local police in all states.

If none of them will allow charges to be filed you can go to the county attorney / prosecutor directly to do so. If they will not, you then have the state's attorney general to look at too. If none of them want to do anything where California is a sell out state to the Federal Government you can sue all of those whom you contacted for not allowing you to file a valid criminal complaint. It is not their place to decide the merit of a case. It is the court's place to do so.

If it was my wife, girlfriend, sister, mother, or female friend I would encourage them to go up the chain as I suggested here and sue if no one in the chain was willing to allow the charges to be filed.

If you have seen the DHS / TSA training and unreleased PSA videos leaked on the Internet they are specifically designed to make an attractive white woman like you out to be the new terrorists along with any white to be honest with a "minority" being the one to rat them out or catch them. This is because the Federal Government knows that the majority of those employed by the TSA and even DHS are minorities with a large number of them being naturalized citizens.

Reverse racism is the new tactic being employed by the jackbooted thugs in our government because middle class White America is waking up to the lies and losses of liberty.

Jeff
at September 8, 2011 6:50 PM

Good on you Amy for taking a stand. I've quoted some of the article (and comments) on FB and I hope my friends will pass it on.

What the hell difference does it make? Whether she was sobbing or not makes no difference on the issue of whether the TSA is justified in their invasive pat downs.

Whether she was sobbing or not, either before or after, makes no impact on whether digital rape (in the name of duty/someone doing their 'job' or otherwise) occurred

And if you read her account carefully, her choice of words do not give the impression that she was 'faking it' when she was sobbing - rather that she simply wasn't suppressing her grief at what was happening

women are so often judged if they don't react in a way people expect (or want) them to

and some people look for any excuse to absolve the guilty of personal responsibility

hence the gradual and increasing loss of personal freedom all in the name of what's good for us, the nanny state

and funnily enough, it (the nanny state) seems to bridge political affiliations. Reminds me of when I studied Russian history in the 19th century at school (lol - a while ago!). After the revolution, the old police state structures were simply dusted off and given new names and used by the revolutionaries to perpetuate their own form of control. Nothing really changed for the people.

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2466558">comment from Rebecca

Rebecca is exactly right -- that nobody has the right to sexually violate you because you were sobbing or for any other reason -- and that I was teary-eyed and simply let the tears rip. Even if I were "faking it," that does not justify what this woman did to me, and what has been done to other women -- including Susie Castillo.

Moreover, government workers are violating our rights by touching us at all without probable cause.

And I want to say for the record to "Ms. Magee" :You, madam violated Amy Alkon and are a rapist, a sexual predator, and should be thrown in jail along with your manager and anyone else responsible for the illegal and immoral violations you committed. Now, are you going to come after me? My name is David T. McKee - bring it on Be-othc! Bring it on!

Thank you for telling me this. I live in New Zealand and hope to visit USA one day but now I will be flying to Canada and travelling into the states. I simply won't fly directly into America. I don't mind getting on a bus and travelling for long periods of time to avoid a pat down.

Samantha
at September 10, 2011 5:00 AM

It's sad this happened.

Though, why give up your rights in the first place?
On starting to cry, was your opportunity to cancel
your trip or make other travel arrangement.

Carrying your awful experience, isn't worth a flight.

Keep strong, don't disregard your feelings next time.

Big Al
at September 10, 2011 1:45 PM

You probably won't see this out of like 300 comments, but it's ridiculous that someone would expect you to just cancel your trip and make other arrangements because of how you were being treated. It's just not that simple.

I read an article saying this woman is suing you. I hope you counter-sue and her ass gets handed to her.

Good for you.
Never give in to them.
Make sure she is punished.
Keep telling others and encouraging them to do the same.
never give in.
It is not your fault.
you are in the right.

Mike Mckee
at September 10, 2011 8:56 PM

I think if people buy into the media and government fairy tale of 911 being done by Muslims they live in complete denial of the resources necessary to orchestrate such an event. This violation of logic has resulted in physical violations at the airport. In other words, first Michael Chertoff and his associated thugs raped us on 911, now they are raping us at the airport.

pj
at September 11, 2011 2:55 AM

Dear Amy,
I just heard about this on the Roger Hedgecock show Monday.

What we need to know is what this TSA thug Magee looks like, and other details, such as her home address, home phone number, email address, and the like. We know all about YOU, but we know nothing about HER, except the name of her ambulance-chasing lawyer.

Let me explain why we need to know more about her: We citizens of this country have precious few avenues for redress of injuries perpetrated by the federal government. For example, you should be pressing criminal charges against her, but you can't.

If the citizenry knew how to make personal contact with those in government, they could remonstrate with them and possibly show them the error of their ways. What's more, if the thugs who work for the government knew the light of day would be shined on them and their misdeeds, they might be less inclined to commit the dirty deeds they've been getting away with.
What say you?
Angie

Angela Castaneda
at September 14, 2011 7:25 PM

It is my opinion that my body is my private property and I would consider any non-consensual touching a trespass. would having an affidavit which is authenticated by the government , stating you are not a threat to anyone,served immediately to TSA and then they search you anyway and find nothing, would now become evidence of a contractual violatation and TSA would be required to pay damages for violating the contract created by the conditions that need to be met in the affidavit since you did not consent to the patdown.

daniel cross
at September 16, 2011 3:45 PM

Hi - I just want to add my voice to those who are supporting you, Amy, and let you know that even though the media circus has died down, there are still those of us out here who are and will continue fighting to restore our Constitutional rights. I will fight this fight until my last breath if I have to, because it is so important.

It is so disheartening to see that keeping one's head down has apparently become an American value. I stand behind New Hampshire and Unix programmers in the "live free or die" philosophy.

By the way, I'd like to come out and say that I am a liberal who voted for Barack Obama, in part due to President Bush's poor civil/human rights record. This is not a partisan issue. This is a human issue, and I for one will stand behind absolutely anyone who fights for this cause 100%, even if it's the only thing I agree with them about.

Most of what's worth saying on here has been said already in the intervening months, but the one last sentiment I would like to echo is this: If you're too scared of terrorists to get on a plane, DON'T FLY. Terrorism is real, but the fear attached to it is so disproportionate as to be absurd. Erosion of civil rights, however, is rampant.

PS. Your lawyer wrote a kickass letter. Mad props!

Dana
at September 17, 2011 1:28 PM

Ooohhh, Waaahhh!! Just another drama queen looking for her 15 minutes in the spotlight. I've had the TSA grope and there is no way it could have been construed as "rape". Calling it so demeans the real victims of sexual assault whose lives and families have been shattered by the act. Get some perspective and grow up!!

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2502129">comment from Anonymous

Calling it so demeans the real victims of sexual assault whose lives and families have been shattered by the act. Get some perspective and grow up!!

I AM a victim of "real sexual assault" (in New York, though minor, by a guy who followed me from a gallery opening in Soho. I got away, called the police, and went with them looking for the guy). Also, I have books detailing what sex crimes are, and as my lawyer wrote in his note, and as you'll see in numerous venues, unwanted contact by a person in power with another person's genitals is called "rape" or "sexual assault."

But, really, let's call the bullshit on this statement you uttered in utter nonthink: this idea that "real" sexual assault victims are somehow demeaned by the mere use of the term to mean coerced contact with a person's genitals for anything short of serious violent sexual contact. Let's see, to follow your logic, a woman who is merely raped by one man in an alley and calls that rape is "demeaning" a victim of a brutal gang rape. Right.

As I pointed out to somebody with the similarly idiotic parroting of a similar phrasing -- that it is an "insult" to rape victims... -- is a terrible assault really diminished because the term is used to describe an assault that does not include a beating or a gun or penetrative intercourse?

Or, is it possible that the word is being used -- along with the notion that I am "insulting" in using it -- to try to guilt me into shutting up about the abuse I went through at the airport? And I'm not the only one. It's because of the loud and vocal ones like Susie Castillo and me that maybe, maybe, we have a chance of telling TSA workers that they are NOT above the law, and maybe getting our Constitutional rights back.

Regarding the idea that I'm going through the worry of a lawsuit and potentially paying for this woman for the rest of my life because I want my 15 minutes in the spotlight, I've already had probably 50 hours in the spotlight, if not more. Since the early 90s, I've been on numerous national TV shows (most recently The Today Show, early this year) about my work. I do radio very often -- usually John Phillips show on KABC about once a month for an hour or so. I also do speaking engagements to large groups. They sold 550 tickets in Traverse City, Michigan for people to come hear me talk about my book at the Opera House. (I didn't know there were 550 people in Traverse City!)

Let's be very clear: I don't need attention for what happened to my particular vagina at the airport -- we all need attention to what's happening to our rights, which are being eroded right and left. If I can turn this into a positive experience, it will be in drawing attention to the issue of our rights being eroded, and if I can turn it into a really positive experience, I will contribute in some way to getting the TSA curtailed or (dream!) disbanded.

They do not keep us safe (there are myriad examples showing how they do not) -- they make it safer for those who wish to remove our rights from us.

I was with you all the way until you until you made a comment about the name, Thedala Magee, not being a typical American name. This assault would have been less intrusive and more tolerable if Jane Jones had done this to you?

Good luck with your civil lawsuit and I hope hers turns out to be nothing.

This assault would have been less intrusive and more tolerable if Jane Jones had done this to you?

Nice work stretching to come to that conclusion! Did you work up to that in yoga, or does it come naturally?

Of course, what anyone who does not try to invent racism at every turn would understand is that I simply was noting that it was difficult for me to figure out whether her name was Thedala Magee or the other way around. Had her name been "Maria Rodriguez," that wouldn't have been a problem. The same would go for "Joe Johnson" or even "Farhad Barkadorian." "Barkadorian sounds like a last name for somebody Armenian," so no problem figuring out which goes where, first or last.

Dear Amy, I am so sorry for what happened to you. Every citizen older that 18 is responsible for letting this invasion of privacy continue.

Former Homeland Security personnel have publically stated bomb sniffing dogs are better detectors and less invasive.

I do a comedy sketch at The Gypsy Den, 125 North Broadway, Santa Ana, CA south of 4th St., west of Main every Thursday nite usually between 9:30pm and 10:30pm.

It was just called to my attention that Chairman Peter King of the Homeland Security Committee and the committee has authored and promoted a law that says making fun of a TSA agent or Air Marshal is a crime. Surely, this can't be true! Soon it will be against the law to make fun of the President;then, what will Saturday Night Live do? Teach knitting?

Linda Lee Grau
at October 19, 2011 3:05 PM

Amy,
Thank you for blogging about your rape and I loved your attorney’s letter to the TSA agent, THEDALA MAGEE, who first sexually assaulted you and then attempted extortion. You eloquently explained what happened to you and fluently described the emotions you experienced before, during and after the assault. Until our government-sanctioned assaults began, no one could comprehend what happened to me one fine day as I was departing Sweden, more so because I think it was too traumatic for me to articulate properly. I cried on the airplane. I felt violated and dirty. It was exactly as you and Miss USA described; back and forth, front and back, four times, deep inside, but in my case by a MALE. I never truly recovered from the humiliation of the public sexual assault in the Stockholm airport. This took place in 1998; FOURTEEN years ago. I continued to fly 36 to 40 round trips a year - but never back to Sweden - and have not flown at all since they installed the horrible radiation, stripped-naked scanners with the opt out for a felonious sexual assault here in the US.
Joan

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-2844830">comment from john

Thanks -- heard about this. Been meaning to post about it; just been consumed doing research, writing, trying to make a connection at Pravda (now have email address and person's name to use as intro, but must wait until Monday - was 7pm there when I got them).

I'm so sorry this happened to you. It happened to me as well, at the Raleigh-Durham airport. The side of the agents hand, jammed up between my labia several times. It was disgusting.

I actually think this IS TSA protocol. I was pretty nice to her, because I figured it is not something they want to be doing either, and she seemed relieved by that, though it didn't change the search. But she was pretty grim, and the whole process seemed to be as distasteful to her as it was to me. The whole thing is institutionalized sexual assault.

I try to avoid flying, though I am going on a trip in April, and I am already dreading the TSA.

I'm waiting for the tipping point where Americans will say "enough!!!," and fight back with whatever means available to them. This is a war folks. The enemy is among us. Be prepared. The day is coming where we will all have to take action to destroy the enemy within and force the rest of them from our shores. Personally, I look forward to that day.

Good for you for standing up for yourself - this is absolutely outrageous. I have two sisters, and if this ever happened to them in my presence they'd probably take me straight to GITMO.

The problem with these searches is not that we are giving up liberty for security -- its that we are giving up personal security in the name of collective security -- which shows how wrong and pervasive the TSA's policies are, and how most Americans have just become comfortably numb to these injurious violations of our personal rights as Citizens of the United States.

Plenty missed the points here, I travel and I like the idea of no Super "free" Idiotic Constitutional first degree Lover would decide to bring knives or weapons on a plane on a trip I am paying for... Excessive Freedom is Anarchy! There is not more freedom here than most developed countries. Search needs to be done on passengers that trained agent would or could suspect to be harmful for society. Safeguards are necessary, coming in tears sobbing would have made you suspicious to my eyes.. Searches should be filmed and standards universal... Oh but Freedom dictates that staes or companies can do whatever they want because they are "free" can't have it both ways.. Searches have been done forever on international flights and in around the world for other reasons than terrorism, drug trafficking diamond smugling etc.. We have not reached that level of crazyness here but educate yourself, search and pad downs are systematic here and could have been more efficient if databases were shared among agencies instead of spending time padding down a 80yo woman they could have been more efficient at alerting TSa about troublesome users ahead as soon as their id is scanned at airport... Real Life is not for the squeamish, I have compassion for the victims who were groped sexually i& ntentionally, they should fight for their right, but I also understand the lack of rules and standards and the aleas of human interaction in the whole equation.....

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/04/26/make_it_tough_t.html#comment-3238497">comment from Benji

Search needs to be done on passengers that trained agent would or could suspect to be harmful for society.

What crap. The thug-grandmother who, this week at Albuquerque International, grazed my right labia (disgusting!) with her latex gloved hand for money is going to find terrorists? Terrorists are found by highly trained law enforcement officers doing investigative work not unskilled workers who would otherwise be working at the bagel place.

And I didn't come in crying -- which would make a thinking person suspicious that I'm...what...maybe a victim of sexual assault?

While the TSA pointlessly sexually assaults citizens sans probable cause, they ignore the areas that don't provide such good theater -- cargo. You could smuggle a nuclear warhead on a plane by bribing a guy delivering food to the airport - while granny's underpants are searched up and down for incendiary devices.

You're one of those dangerous people who thinks himself highly intelligent and logical and your comment above reveals that you are neither.

I try never to fly. I cannot understand why people are fine with forking over hundreds of dollars to be treated like the latest arrival at Sing Sing, then crammed into a seat the size of a postage stamp where they will spend the rest of their sentence jockeying for an inch of armrest with a total stranger. I guess this makes me an elitist with a sense of entitlement.

I would much rather skip the vaginal exam and take my chances on winding up next to Jihad Joe, because I absolutely LOVE my odds.

Some nut with an ax to grind will occasionally get a few of us, but as it stands now they got ALL of us. Americans don't really seem to be very free or brave any more, do they?

Julie
at June 29, 2012 7:48 AM

Amy has a great Idea.Lets put up multiple web sites that name every TSA officer who abuses his or her position with the DHS including details of the experience, when and where.Eventually the entire country will see and maybe put an end to this abuse.If DHS doesnt care about the taxpayers that pays their salaries maybe the taxpayers can threaten to eliminate DHS or some of their dept heads.This whole thing sounds like Nazi Germany world war II again.

abusingthepublic
at September 9, 2012 11:06 AM

The FBI is the lead federal agency for investigating color of law abuses, which include acts carried out by government officials operating both within and beyond the limits of their lawful authority. Off-duty conduct may be covered if the perpetrator asserted his or her official status in some way.

During 2009, the FBI investigated 385 color of law cases. Most of these crimes fall into five broad areas:

■Excessive force;
■Sexual assaults;
■False arrest and fabrication of evidence;
■Deprivation of property; and
■Failure to keep from harm.